JOSEPH 


C HO ATE 


THERONG.  STRONG 


JOSEPH   H.  CHOATE 


BIOGRAPHY  IS  BY  NATURE  THE  MOST  UNIVERSALLY 
PROFITABLE.  UNIVERSALLY  PLEASANT  OF  ALL  THINGS; 
ESPECIALLY  BIOGRAPHY  OF  DISTINGUISHED  INDIVIDUALS." 

Sartor  Ketartus 


JOSEPH    H.   CHOATE 

NEW  ENGLANDER 

NEW  YORKER  LAWYER 

AMBASSADOR 


BY 


THERON   G.   STRONG 

Author  of  "  Landmarks  of  a  Lawyer's  Lifetime" 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1917 


COPYRIGHT,  1917,  BY 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY,  Iwo. 

First  Edition  published  October  13. 1917 

Second  Edition  printed  November  8.  1917 

Third  Edition  printed  December  1,  1917 

Fourth  Edition  printed  December  20,  1917 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTORY Pages  xi  to  xvii 

THE    NEW   ENGLANDER      .       .       .     Pages  3  to  55 

Ancestors— Their  early  days— Maternal  an 
cestors— Witchcraft— John  Choate— Hog  Island 
— Thomas  Choate — His  father,  Dr.  George  Choate 
— His  brothers — Education — Social  enjoyment — 
Anecdote  of  his  mother — The  Choate  Family — 
Birth— School  days— Dames'  School— The  Cen 
tral  School — The  schola  publica  prima — Salem — 
Harvard— William  G.  Choate— James  C.  Carter 
— Bishop  Phillips  Brooks — College  days — In 
structors — Classmates — Law  School — Instructors 
— Classmates — Dr.  Fowler,  the  phrenologist — 
Leverett  Saltonstall — Removal  to  New  York — 
Letter  of  Rufus  Choate — Association  with  Mr. 
Evarts — A  typical  New  Englander — Salem  ad 
dress — His  New  England  traits — His  bonhomie 
— His  Puritan  qualities — The  New  England  So 
ciety — Addresses  at  its  annual  dinners — Address 
describing  the  dinner  in  1855 — Affection  for  Har 
vard — Address  at  Harvard  Club. 

THE    NEW   YORKER  ....     Pages  59  to  123 

My  acquaintance  with  him — His  appearance 
and  demeanor — Personal  qualities — Attractive 
traits — Espousal  of  worthy  causes — Abreast  of 
the  times — Few  intimacies — An  omnivorous 
reader — Manner  in  public  address — Post-prandial 
oratory — St.  Andrew's  dinner  and  speech — St. 
Patrick's  Day  speech — Letter  referring  to  it — 
Popularity  as  a  speaker — Sanitary  Fair  speech — 
Political  career — Manner  in  political  addresses 
— Richard  Croker  speech — Participation  in  local 
campaigns — Unpopularity  with  the  bosses — Ex- 


382976 


vi  CONTENTS 

planation  of  it — Fitness  for  public  office — Cause 
of  failure  to  receive  it — Thwarting  the  political 
plot  of  1891 — Election  to  the  Constitutional  Con 
vention — Elected  its  President — Movement  to 
elect  him  Governor — Movement  to  elect  him  to 
the  United  States  Senate — Social  attractiveness — 
Fun-making  power — His  tact — Breadth  of  inter 
ests — Resuming  life  in  New  York — First  citizen 
—Philanthropies — The  Century  Association — 
King  of  the  Twelfth  Night  Revel — Respect  and 
honor  accorded  him — Delegate  to  The  Hague 
Conference — Golden  wedding — Attitude  toward 
the  war — Address  at  the  Union  League  Club — 
Associated  Press  address — Address  of  welcome  to 
the  French  Commission — Address  of  welcome  to 
the  British  Commission — Address  at  the  dinner 
to  the  Commissioners — His  onerous  duties — His 
over-taxed  energies — Discussing  the  immortality 
of  the  soul — His  farewell  to  Mr.  Balfour — His 
fortunate  life  and  death. 

THE   LAWYER Pages  127  to  236 

Court  lawyers  fifty  years  ago — Changes  re 
specting  them — A  great  Court  lawyer — Address 
at  Lincoln's  Inn — Address  before  American  Bar 
Association — What  constitutes  success — Position 
at  the  Bar — Personal  appearance — Manner  in 
Court — Address  at  the  Lord  Mayor's  banquet — 
His  leadership  of  the  Bar — Independence — En 
joyment  of  practice — Versatility — Humor — Tact 
ful  retorts — Charm  of  his  eloquence — Relations 
with  the  Bar — His  first  Constitutional  case — His 
varied  practice — Evarts,  Southmayd  and  Choate 
— Address  on  Mr.  Southmayd — Mr.  Evarts  and 
Mr.  Choate — Case  of  the  Hynes  estate — Mar 
tinez  vs.  del  Valle — Hunt  vs.  Stevens — Stewart 
vs.  Huntington — Retort  to  Senator  Conkling — 
Funk  vs.  Godkin— United  States  vs.  Stanford— 
Feuardent  vs.  Cesnola — The  case  of  Mr.  Justice 
Field — Laidlaw  vs.  Sage — The  Income  Tax  cases 
— Their  importance — Notable  cases — Return  to 
the  Bar — Career  in  the  retrospect — An  ornament 
of  the  Bar. 


CONTENTS  vii 

THE   AMBASSADOK  ....     Pages  239  to  385 

Appointed  Ambassador — National  approval — 
Criticized  by  Irishmen — Qualifications  for  the 
position — Reception  by  the  Bar  Association — At 
tack  of  gout — Demands  upon  him  for  addresses 
— Social  success — Cultivating  friendly  interna 
tional  relations — Appeal  of  his  humor — Persona 
grata  with  Her  Majesty — Chambers  of  Commerce 
address — Witticisms — Bencher  of  the  Middle 
Temple — The  Mansion  House  dinner — The  Hay- 
Pauncefote  Treaty — The  Alaska  Boundary — 
The  "Open  Door"  in  China— Samoa— The 
Sutherland  Institute  address — Address  at  the  In 
stitute  banquet — The  Actors'  Fund  address — In 
dependence  Day  speech,  July  5,  1900 — Ancient 
Cutlers'  Feast  address — Lord  Mayor's  banquet, 
November  10,  1900— The  Freedom  of  Edinburgh 
— Dinner  to  Sir  John  Tenniel — The  Royal  So 
ciety  dinner — Address  at  the  Burnley  Mechanics 
Institution — Prize  Day  at  University  College 
School — Address  at  the  Leys  School — Address  at 
the  Crewe  Mechanics  Institution — Address  at  the 
Cheyne  Hospital,  Chelsea — Dinner  of  the  Au 
thors'  Club — Address  at  the  Coventry  Bazaar — 
Address  at  a  poultry  show — Address  to  the  Al- 
brighton  Hunt — Address  before  the  Fly  Fishers' 
Club — Address  before  the  Social  and  Political 
Education  League — Thanksgiving  Day — Another 
Thanksgiving  Day — Independence  Day,  July  5, 
1901 — Return  to  America — Farewell. 

INDEX  .     Page  387 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Joseph  H.  Choate  in  1894  (Photogravure) 

Frontispiece 


FACING 

PAG  a 


Dr.  George  Choate   .  . 

Harvard  '52  Class  Picture 18 

Birthplace,  Joseph  H.  Choate,  Salem,  Mass.,  built  in 

1773 36 

Joseph  H.  Choate  in  1864 62 

King  of  the  Revel 72 

The  King  and  His  Jesters 98 

Mr.  Balfour  and  Mr.  Choate 120 

William  M.  Evarts 130 

Charles  F.  Southmayd 158 

As  Junior  Partner  of  Butler,  Evarts  and  Southmayd  172 

During  a  Trial 188 

"The  Open  Door" .248 

Cultivating  Friendly  International  Relations      .       .  258 

"I  do  enjoy  the  society  of  lions.     I'm  something  of 

a  lion  myself" 296 

"The  success  of  the  show  season  in  London.     Mr. 

Choate  and  his  eagle" 370 

On  his  eighty-fourth  birthday 382 


INTEODUCTORY 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  prepared  a  complete 
biography  of  Mr.  Choate,  much  less  an  authorized 
biography,  which  would  naturally  refer  to  subjects, 
domestic  and  social,  to  which  I  do  not  allude. 

His  career  of  extraordinary  interest  and  bril 
liancy  furnished  an  attractive  theme  which  I  could 
not  pursue  when  writing  my  Landmarks  of  a 
Lawyer's  Lifetime,  as  it  dealt  only  with  persons  no 
longer  living,  and  he  was  very  much  alive. 

I  had  not  sent  him,  or  other  members  of  the  Bar, 
a  copy  of  the  book,  being  uncertain,  at  the  time, 
whether  it  would  be  regarded  as  a  benefit  or  a 
burden.  But  soon  after  its  publication,  he  read  it, 
and  spontaneously  wrote  me  a  letter  so  character 
istic  of  his  friendliness,  and  so  generous  and  out 
spoken  in  recognition  of  what  he  approved  and,  as 
well,  containing  an  interesting  reminiscence  of  his 
first  case  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  in 
which  my  kinsman,  Mr.  Justice  Strong,  wrote  the 
opinion  and,  in  addition,  his  impressions  of  Mr. 
Justice  Strong,  and  my  father,  that  I  believe  most 
of  it  should  be  inserted  here,  not  only  as  an  indi 
cation  of  the  man,  but  quite  likely  as  the  inspiration 
to  attempt  a  pen  portrait  of  him. 

xi 


xii  INTRODUCTORY 

' i  Naumkeag 

Stockbridge,  Mass., 

June  18,  1914. 
My  dear  Mr.  Strong: 

I  can't  tell  you  how  much  I  thank  you  for  writing 
and  publishing  your  Landmarks  of  a  Lawyer's  Life 
time.  I  have  read  it  with  great  delight.  It  recalled 
many  incidents  I  had  forgotten,  and  told  me  some 
which  had  never  before  come  to  my  knowledge.  I 
congratulate  you  very  much  on  the  success  of  the 
book. 

I  thought  your  characterizations  of  the  various 
men  whom  I  have  known  at  the  Bar,  and  with  whom 
I  have  collided,  more  or  less  closely,  are  almost  all 
very  just  and  fair.  I  was  particularly  pleased  with 
your  sketch  of  Mr.  Evarts,  to  whom  no  justice  has 
been  done  in  the  way  of  a  biography. 

In  case  you  should  ever  issue  another  edition, 
there  are  one  or  two  suggestions,  perhaps,  worth 
inquiring  about  in  regard  to  Mr.  Evarts'  career.  It 
is  true  that  he  came  to  the  actual  front  in  the  trial 
of  the  Parish  Will  Case  before  the  Surrogate,  but 
I  don't  think  he  was  originally  retained  as  leading 
counsel.  If  I  recollect  rightly,  it  was  when  Mr. 
Cutting,  who  was  so  retained,  unexpectedly  and 
suddenly  broke  down,  and  had  to  retire,  and,  as 
it  turned  out,  never  to  return,  that  Mr.  Evarts 
was  called  in  to  take  his  place,  which  he  did  so 
well. 

Mr.  Evarts  was  not  only  very  highly  qualified,  but 
he  was  exceedingly  fortunate  professionally,  in  the 


INTRODUCTORY  xiii 

fact  that  while  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Bar,  and 
the  natural  man  to  be  called  in  for  great  cases,  so 
many  cases  of  that  character  occurred,  as  the  im 
peachment  of  the  President,  the  Geneva  arbitration, 
the  trial  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  and  one  or  two 
others  which  gave  him  great  fame,  which  will  long 
outlast  the  memory  of  his  official  services  as  At 
torney  General,  Senator  and  Secretary  of  State. 

I  gave  a  copy  of  your  book  to  Lord  Eversley,  who, 
as  George  Shaw-Lefevre,  had  known  Mr.  Evarts 
very  well,  both  on  this  side  of  the  water,  and  in 
England.  He  was  delighted  to  get  it  to  read  on  his 
lonesome  way  home  in  the  steamer. 

I  remember  very  well  practicing  before  your 
father  in  several  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
what  a  serene  and  dignified  judicial  officer  he  was. 

I  had  an  interesting  experience  with  Mr.  Justice 
Strong,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  when 
Mr.  Evarts  became  Secretary  of  State.  He  had 
been  retained  by  H.  B.  Claflin  to  defend  him  against 
an  indictment  on  some  Custom  House  matter  that 
had  been  troubling  him,  and  was  for  some  technical 
offense  involving  no  personal  fault.  Of  course, 
having  become  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Evarts  could 
not  argue  it,  and  so  it  was  turned  over  to  me.  I 
haven't  the  volume  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that 
date  here,  but  it  could  be  easily  found.*  The  diffi 
culty  was  serious  in  that  the  same  Court,  by  unani 
mous  decision,  two  or  three  years  before,  against 

*  97  United  States  Reports,  546. 


xiv  INTRODUCTORY 

another  party,  had  decided  adversely  to  Mr. 
Claflin's  position  on  the  very  same  point,  and  Mr. 
Justice  Strong  had  written  the  opinion.  But  the 
merits  were  very  clear  to  my  mind,  and  I  argued 
it  as  if  they  were  so.  Presently  the  decision  came 
out  in  favor  of  Mr.  Claflin,  Justice  Strong  writing 
the  opinion,  reversing  himself  and  the  Court  in  the 
former  case.  I  thought  it  a  very  magnanimous 
opinion,  very  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  proving 
himself  to  be  just  the  kind  of  man  that  is  always 
wanted  for  the  Supreme  Court. 

Thanking  you  again  for  writing  the  book,  which 
does  so  much  credit  to  yourself  and  the  profession, 
I  am  Most  truly  yours, 

Joseph  H.  Choate." 

After  its  receipt  I  commenced  preparing  a  sketch 
of  him,  resorting  to  sources  of  information  available 
to  the  public,  supplemented  by  my  knowledge  of 
him,  through  long  acquaintance  and  in  more  or  less 
frequent  association  at  the  Bar.  My  intention  was 
to  represent  him  as  known  to  his  brethren  at  the 
Bar,  and  gather  about  him  some  interesting  events 
of  his  career,  without  touching  upon  private  and 
personal  matters  which,  however  interesting,  are 
not  of  public  concern,  and  can  only  be  revealed  in 
an  authorized  biography.  Fortunately,  I  was  per 
mitted  access  to  valuable  material,  which  it  would 
have  t)een  impossible  for  me  to  collect,  consisting 
largely  of  clippings  from  the  newspapers  of  this 
country  and  England,  preserved  in  several  volumes 


INTRODUCTORY  xv 

of  scrapbooks.  My  access  to  them  happened  in  this 
way:  Being  unable  to  find  a  record  of  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  characteristic  incidents  of  Ms 
career — his  "St.  Patrick's  Day  Speech " — I  applied 
to  him  for  the  date  of  its  delivery.  He  responded, 
giving  me  the  information.  I  found  it  at  the  Public 
Library,  in  one  of  the  New  York  papers,  and  pro 
cured  two  photographic  copies  of  it.  Thinking  Mr. 
Choate  would  like  to  see  one  of  them,  I  sent  it  to 
him  by  letter,  stating  that  if  he  surmised  from  my 
interest  in  his  speech  that  I  was  writing  about  him, 
this  surmise  was  correct,  but  that  I  was  having 
difficulty,  lacking  available  information,  in  pre 
paring  anything  adequate  respecting  his  career  as 
Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St.  James.  He  re 
sponded  that  he  had  kept  very  full  scrapbooks  of 
his  experience  as  Ambassador  and,  to  my  agreeable 
surprise,  offered  to  place  them  at  my  service.  In 
the  Autumn  of  1915  he  allowed  me  to  take  the 
scrapbooks,  one  by  one,  and  examine  them  at  my 
convenience,  and  make  extracts  from  them,  and,  in 
addition,  placed  in  my  hands  recollections  he  had 
written  of  his  family,  remarking  that  it  was  the 
beginning  of  his  reminiscences,  but  that  so  far  he 
had  only  carried  them  down  to  the  date  of  his  birth, 
and  that,  as  to  that  event,  he  could  not  say  that 
his  memory  was  entirely  clear;  beside  this,  he  gave 
me,  in  several  conversations,  valuable  information. 
In  talking  over  with  Mr.  Choate  matters  connected 
with  his  career,  I  urged  him  to  give  the  subject 
careful  thought,  in  order  to  recall  interesting  inci- 


xvi  INTRODUCTORY 

dents,  and  state  the  facts  with  accuracy.  "Oh," 
said  he,  "I  could  not  do  that;  I  hate  to  think;  I 
always  did  hate  to  think.  There  was  Lord  Haldane, 
of  whom  you  know,  who  was  a  philosopher  and  Lord 
Chancellor.  One  day  he  handed  me  a  book  he  had 
published,  called  The  Pathway  to  Reality.  Of 
course,  I  accepted  it  gratefully,  and  when  I  met  him 
later  he  referred  to  it,  and  I  was  obliged  to  tell  him 
I  hadn't  read  it,  because  I  found  I  was  unable  to 
understand  it,  and  I  was  so  averse  to  thinking  on 
any  subject,  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  think  what 
he  meant.  He  laughed  and  said  no  more  about 
it." 

Therefore,  I  regretfully  abandoned  my  effort  to 
induce  him  to  bring  forth  from  his  mental  treasury 
his  rich  store  of  recollections  of  Rufus  Choate,  his 
remarkable  kinsman ;  William  M.  Evarts,  his  precep 
tor  and  partner ;  the  eminent  lawyers  and  judges  at 
our  Bar;  and  the  English  lawyers  and  statesmen 
with  whom  he  was  on  friendly,  sometimes  intimate, 
terms.  His  personal  experiences  at  the  Bar,  and 
amid  the  manifold  relations  of  New  York  life,  would 
have  provided  reminiscences  of  extraordinary  in 
terest.  But,  without  relying  on  his  memory,  his 
scrapbooks  were  full  of  choice  material.  From  these, 
with  the  other  material  he  furnished,  I  have  drawn 
freely  during  more  than  two  years  spent  in  pre 
paring  the  succeeding  pages,  following  closely,  at 
times,  the  lines  of  thought  and  occasionally  the  same 
phraseology  adopted  in  them.  The  scrapbooks 
contained  fugitive  articles,  ephemeral  in  their  na- 


INTRODUCTORY  xvli 

ture,  having  no  permanent  value  other  than  as 
sources  of  information  respecting  his  career.  To 
the  authors  of  these  I  acknowledge,  respectfully 
and  gratefully,  my  obligations  for  much  of  what 
ever  value  there  may  be  in  what  I  now  offer. 


NOTE 

It  should  be  stated  that  in  the  first  eight  pages  of  my 
book  I  have  employed,  to  a  very  large  extent,  the  language 
used  by  Mr.  Choate  in  the  recollections  which — with  no 
thought  of  publication  in  his  mind — he  wrote  for  the  benefit 
of  his  family. 


I 

THE  NEW  ENGLANDER 


I 

THE  NEW  ElNGLANDER 

ME.  CHOATE'S  ancestors  were  genuine  New  England- 
ers  and,  for  generations,  residents  of  Salem,  Massa 
chusetts.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Gamaliel 
Hodges,  was  a  fine,  sturdy  figure  at  seventy,  full  of 
life  and  health,  and  good  for  many  years  to  follow. 
He  was  a  giant  in  stature,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
tallest  man  in  Salem,  and  at  his  best,  or  worst, 
weighed  no  less  than  350  pounds.  His  brothers, 
Benjamin  and  George,  were  of  like  stature.  It  is 
related  of  them  that  when  the  master  of  a  foreign 
ship  approaching  the  dock  beheld  them  he  exclaimed, 
"Is  this  a  land  of  giants?"  He  possessed  a  calm  and 
equable  temperament  denoting  an  absence  of  nerves, 
and  passed  his  life  of  eighty-five  years  without  ill 
ness  until  that  from  which  he  died.  Twenty-five 
years  before  the  mast  and  on  the  quarter-deck,  full 
of  fresh  air  and  salt  water,  gave  the  Choates  their 
good  constitution,  enabling  Mr.  Choate  to  maintain 
his  very  strenuous  life  at  the  Bar,  at  the  same  time 
rendering  conspicuous  public  service. 

The  early  days  of  this  ancestor  were  those  of  slen 
der  education,  in  his  case  limited  to  the  three  R's: 
Beading,  Writing  and  Arithmetic.  In  the  school 
which  he  attended,  when  the  hour  came  for  dis- 

3 


4  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

missal,  the  boys  all  rose  and  recited  together 
"Honorificabilitudinitatibus,"  and  with  the  "Bus" 
all  started  for  the  door  with  a  shout. 

The  origin  of  this  unpronounceable  word  that 
gave  the  sign  for  dismissal  is  not  easily  discover 
able,  but  the  approval  of  its  use  by  Shakespeare, 
when  he  makes  Holofernes,  the  schoolmaster  in 
"Love's  Labour's  Lost,"  use  it,  is  a  high  recogni 
tion  of  it.  It  must  have  been  a  word  that  came  down 
through  tradition  in  the  schools,  handed  from  mouth 
to  mouth,  crossing  the  Atlantic  with  the  first  set 
tlers,  for,  centuries  before,  in  all  probability,  it  had 
been  used  in  a  similar  way  in  the  Latin  schools,  as 
it  occurs  in  manuscripts,  at  least,  as  early  as  the 
twelfth  century,  in  the  "Catholicon"  of  Johannes 
Janua  (1286)  and  in  Dante's  "De  Vulgari  Eloquio," 
and  in  late  middle  Latin  dictionaries.  The  idea 
seems  to  have  been  that  any  boy  who  could  spell  that 
word  could  spell  any  other  in  the  language. 

Like  all  Salem  boys  of  well-to-do  families  in  those 
days,  at  fifteen  he  took  to  the  sea,  which  served  him 
as  college  and  university,  through  all  the  grades,  as 
cabin  boy,  seaman,  supercargo,  second  mate,  first 
mate  and  captain,  and  only  retired  when  he  had  be 
come  not  only  the  master,  but  owner  of  his  ship. 

Through  his  maternal  line  he  traced  his  descent 
from  the  most  distinguished  of  all  his  ancestors, 
Philip  English,  presumably  of  England,  the  first 
great  merchant  of  Salem.  He  was  a  most  enter 
prising  and  successful  citizen.  He  built  and  owned 
a  large  fleet ;  carried  on  a  great  commercial  trade ; 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  5 

acquired  large  tracts  of  land,  and  was  universally 
respected  and  honored. 

In  his  days,  during  1692,  the  strange  witchcraft 
delusion  occurred,  and  his  eminence  and  success 
brought  upon  him  and  his  wife,  probably  because  of 
envy  of  their  success  and  high  character,  a  charge 
of  being  guilty  of  witchcraft.  They  were  both  ar 
rested  and  lodged  in  Boston  jail,  but  managed  to 
escape  to  New  York  City,  where  they  remained  until 
the  excitement  had  subsided :  otherwise  their  names 
would  certainly  have  been  included  with  the  twenty 
victims  of  that  terrible  delusion.  So  rapidly  did 
it  die  out  that  on  their  return  in  the  following 
year  they  were  welcomed  with  bonfires  and  other 
marks  of  rejoicing. 

John  Choate,  from  whom  all  those  of  that  name  in 
America  are  descended,  arrived  in  Ipswich  from  the 
old  country  about  1643.  He  it  was  who  acquired 
the  land  at  Hog  Island  where  he,  and  his  descendants 
have  to  this  day,  continually  resided;  among  them 
that  eminent  lawyer  and  statesman,  Eufus  Choate. 

Life  on  the  Island,  as  everywhere  in  Ipswich  in 
his  time,  was  extremely  simple  and  primitive.  The 
habits  and  customs  of  the  people  cannot  have 
changed  much  since  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
Colony,  and  the  only  communication  with  the  out 
side  world  appears  to  have  been  when  the  head  of 
the  family  was  sent  to  represent  the  town  at  the 
meetings  of  the  General  Court  in  Boston. 

The  old-fashioned  New  England  discipline  pre 
vailed.  The  father  was  the  real  head  of  the  family; 


6  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  mother  was  the  mediator  between  him  and  the 
children,  who  were  entirely  subject  to  his  sway. 

John  Choate  was  a  substantial  and  worthy  citi 
zen  and  had,  with  his  son  Thomas,  at  least  one  truly 
valuable  title  to  distinction,  because,  at  the  height 
of  the  witchcraft  delusion  he  possessed  the  courage 
to  sign  a  protest  in  behalf  of  "certain  individuals 
then  under  suspicion  of  witchcraft.''  In  this  pro 
test  they  say  "What  God  may  have  left  them  to,  we 
cannot  go  into  God's  pavilion,  clothed  with  clouds 
of  darkness  round  about;  but  as  to  what  we  have 
ever  seen  or  heard  about  them  we  judge  them  in 
nocent  of  the  crime  objected."  As  Upham  in  his 
history  of  Salem  witchcraft  has  truly  said,  "It  is 
to  the  memory  of  these  signers  that  their  names 
should  be  recorded,  and  their  descendants  may  be 
well  gratified  by  the  testimony  thus  borne  to  their 
courage  and  justice." 

Thomas'  third  son,  Francis,  born  in  1701,  who 
died  in  1777,  was  Mr.  Choate 's  ancestor.  Among  all 
the  Choate  ancestors  it  is  said  there  were  none  so 
illustrious  for  their  piety  as  Esquire  Francis  and  his 
wife  Hanna.  He  was  a  ruling  elder  and  a  tower  of 
strength  in  the  Whitfield  movement.  Like  many  of 
his  time  he  was  a  slaveholder,  but  his  will  provided 
for  the  freedom  of  his  slaves  or  for  their  com 
fortable  support  when  aged  or  unable  to  work.  It 
was  one  of  his  brothers  who  built  the  famous  Choate 
bridge  over  the  Ipswich  River,  a  stone  bridge  of 
beautiful  proportions,  which  still  stands  secure  as 
on  the  day  it  was  opened,  though  its  low  arches  were 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDEE  7 

such  a  novelty  in  that  region  that  its  collapse  with 
the  first  heavy  load  that  went  over  it  was  loudly 
predicted,  and  great  multitudes  are  said  to  have 
gathered  to  witness  the  catastrophe. 

Mr.  Choate 's  father,  Dr.  George  Choate,  was  born 
in  Chebacco,  Essex,  November  7,  1796.  He  was 
graduated  from  Harvard  in  1818  with  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  honors.  His  class,  which  numbered  eighty- 
one  members,  was  the  largest  up  to  that  time,  and 
continued  such  until  the  class  of  '52,  of  which  Mr. 
Choate  was  a  member,  numbering  eighty-eight.  He 
lived  until  eighty-three  years  of  age  and  died  June 
8,  1880.  After  thorough  preparation  for  the  medi 
cal  profession  in  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  he 
entered  upon  practice  in  Salem  and  became  one  of 
its  most  distinguished  physicians.  His  practice  ex 
tended  throughout  the  neighboring  towns,  involving 
strenuous  labor,,  and  in  it  he  continued  with  pro 
nounced  success  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  re 
linquished  it  when  about  seventy  years  of  age,  re 
tiring  to  Cambridge,  where  one  of  his  sons  resided. 
He  had  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  develop 
ment  of  the  careers  of  all  of  them.  Joseph,  the 
youngest,  was  then  about  forty-eight  years  of  age 
and  one  of  the  most  successful  lawyers  at  the  New 
York  Bar.  William  G.,  the  first  scholar  in  the  class 
of  '52,  after  a  successful  career  at  the  Bar,  had 
become  District  Judge  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York.  Dr.  George  C.  S., 
who  had  been  superintendent  of  the  State  Insane 
Asylum  at  Taunton,  was  later  the  head  of  probably 


8  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  leading  private  asylum  for  the  insane  in  the 
country.  Charles  F.,  the  first  scholar  in  the  class 
of  '49,  had  become  president  of  the  Old  Colony 
Railroad. 

Dr.  Choate  was  a  public-spirited  citizen,  taking 
active  interest  in  public  affairs,  was  president  of 
the  Essex  South  District  Medical  Society  and  of 
the  Salem  Athenaeum,  represented  Salem  in  the 
General  Court,  served  efficiently  on  the  school  com 
mittee  and  was  later  an  Alderman,  and  the  com 
munity  constantly  relied  upon  his  advice  and  assist 
ance.  He  was  a  pillar  of  the  first  church,  the  church 
of  Francis  Higginson,  Hugh  Peters  and  Roger 
Williams.  His  interest  in  education  was  remark 
able  and  never  failing.  He  heartily  sustained  the 
efforts  of  Horace  Mann  which  introduced  such 
wonderful  reforms  in  the  school  system  of  Massa 
chusetts.  In  attending  a  teachers'  convention  at 
Topsfield  at  which  Mr.  Mann  was  to  be  present,  Dr. 
Choate,  his  son  relates,  took  him  in  a  chaise  to 
Topsfield.  As  the  distinguished  reformer  was  de 
sirous  of  reaching  Salem  that  night,  Dr.  Choate 
invited  him  to  accompany  him  on  his  return,  and 
there  being  no  other  place  for  young  Choate  to  sit, 
he  sat  all  the  way  upon  Mr.  Mann's  lap  which,  he 
said,  he  always  regarded  as  the  actual  beginning 
of  his  education. 

In  alluding  to  the  desire  of  his  father  and  mother 
that  their  children  should  be  well  educated,  Mr. 
Choate  said :  '  '  The  lives  of  my  father  and  mother 
were  truly  heroic  in  the  matter  of  the  training  of 


DR.  GKORGK  OHOATK 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  9 

their  children.  Having  four  sons  and  two  daughters 
they  determined,  at  all  hazards,  to  give  them  the  best 
education  the  time  afforded,  and  in  so  doing  set 
them  a  wonderful  example  of  self-control,  self- 
denial  and  self-sacrifice.  Everything  else  was 
subordinate  to  this  high  ideal,  and  they  denied 
themselves  everything  to  accomplish  it.7'  Of  that 
period  he  said,  "I  cannot  recall  my  father  ever 
taking  a  holiday,  except  for  one  hot  afternoon  in 
the  Summer,  when  he  drove  the  whole  family  in  a 
carryall  to  Phillips  Beach  for  a  sail  and  a  fish 
supper.  All  the  rest  of  the  time,  Summer  and 
Winter,  was  devoted,  without  stint,  to  constant 
work. 

"Social  enjoyments,"  said  he,  "were  very  lim 
ited.  Our  family  life  was  in  striking  contrast  to 
that  which  prevails  among  well-to-do  people  to-day ; 
but  they  succeeded  to  a  very  remarkable  degree, 
and  gave  their  children  an  inheritance  which  was 
far  more  precious  than  any  amount  of  wealth  would 
have  been.  Many  a  time  have  I  seen  my  father  pay 
out  what  was  nearly  his  last  dollar  for  the  settle 
ment  of  our  college  bills,  and  all  he  had  to  give  us 
by  will  was  a  hundred  dollars  apiece,  but  his  tri 
umph  was  of  the  most  signal  character,  for  the 
Harvard  College  annual  catalogue  of  1848-49  con 
tained  the  names  of  all  his  four  sons,  one  a  medical 
student,  one  a  senior,  and  two  freshmen,  and  when 
I  recall  that  all  this  was  accomplished  out  of  his 
narrow  professional  income,  when  his  ordinary  fee 
for  a  visit  was  seventy-five  cents,  and  $7.50  for 


10  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

bringing  a  new  child  into  the  world,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  conceive  how  he  could  have  done  it. 
"But  they  had  their  reward  in  the  success  of 
their  sons  and  daughters,  and  their  most  fervent 
gratitude.  I  remember  that  when  my  brother 
William  and  I  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1852, 
William  was  the  first  scholar  in  the  class,  so  much 
so  that  there  was  really  no  one  second.  The  faculty, 
with  an  unusual  manifestation  of  sentiment,  gave 
him  at  commencement  the  valedictory  oration, 
which  was  his  as  a  matter  of  right,  and  to  me, 
although  I  was  only  the  fourth  scholar,  the  saluta 
tory  oration,  which  did  not  belong  to  me  at  all,  so 
that  we  sandwiched  the  class  between  us  in  the 
exercises  of  that  day.  When  my  mother  appeared, 
with  her  characteristic  modesty  and  shyness,  Mrs. 
Sparks,  the  wife  of  the  President,  greeted  her  with 
the  question : 

"  'Why,  Mrs.  Choate,  how  did  you  come  up  from 
Salem?' 

"My  mother  replied:  'I  came  in  the  usual  way, 
by  the  train  to  Boston,  and  to  Cambridge  in  the 
omnibus.' 

"Mrs.  Sparks  exclaimed,  'You  ought  not  to  have 
come  in  that  way,  you  ought  to  have  come  in  a 
chariot  drawn  by  two  peacocks.  Such  a  thing  as 
this  has  never  been  known  before  in  the  history  of 
Harvard — two  brothers  sandwiching  the  class  on 
the  commencement  program.' 

"I  suppose  there  may  be  many  similar  examples 
of  parental  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  among  us 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  11 

to-day,  but  they  are  not  apparent.  In  those  days 
the  rule  was  duty  first  and  pleasure  afterwards,  and 
if  duty  occupied  all  the  time  it  must  be  performed 
at  all  risks  and  let  pleasure  go.  ...  At  any 
rate,  the  old  way  created  an  indissoluble  bond  be 
tween  parents  and  children,  and  I  have  never  made 
any  important  decision  without  wondering  what  my 
father  and  mother  would  have  said  about  it." 

The  Choate  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  New 
England.  The  name  seems  to  have  been  a  very  old 
English  name  spelled,  exactly  as  now,  in  the  English 
annals  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  century.  One  who 
bore  the  name  Thomas  Choate  entered  in  the 
seventeenth  century  Christ  College  at  Cambridge 
University  in  the  same  year  with  John  Milton,  1624, 
remaining  there  until  he  took  his  degree  with  Milton 
in  1629.  To  have  been  in  the  same  little  college  with 
John  Milton  continuously  for  four  years  must  have 
insured  to  him  a  liberal  education.  The  earliest  an 
cestor,  John  Choate,  became  a  citizen  of  Massa 
chusetts  in  1667.  His  grandson,  also  named  John, 
was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
from  1747  until  1761,  and  a  member  of  the  Gov 
ernor's  Council  for  five  years  following.  David,  a 
son  of  John,  and  the  father  of  Eufus  Choate,  was 
not  trained  in  the  law,  but,  it  is  said,  that  having 
a  suit  pending  in  Court,  and  his  counsel  not  being 
present,  he  managed  the  case  himself,  examined 
his  witnesses,  riddled  the  testimony  of  adverse 
witnesses  by  cross-examination,  followed  up  with  a 
sound  and  eloquent  argument  and  won  his  case. 


12  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Joseph  H.  Choate  was  born  at  Salem,  January  24, 
1832.  His  father  was  a  cousin  of  Eufus  Choate,  who 
was  then  just  entering  his  second  term  in  Congress. 
In  speaking  of  his  birth  he  said:  "I  have 
never  had  my  horoscope  cast,  but  it  must  have  been 
propitious  to  account  for  the  cheerful  temperament 
which  has  marked  my  whole  life,  always  looking  on 
the  bright  side  and  making  the  best  of  everything 
as  it  came,  which  has  been  in  itself  a  great  fortune, 
worth  more  than  many  millions."  He  was  the  fifth 
child  and  the  fourth  boy,  the  oldest  not  yet  five,  and 
nurses  for  children  being  almost  unknown  in  those 
days,  he  was  intrusted  to  the  care  of  a  Mrs.  Law 
with  whom  he  lived  for  seventeen  months.  The 
reason  he  gave  for  being  removed  from  the  paternal 
roof  so  summarily  was  that  all  the  other  children 
had  the  whooping-cough,  which  was  believed  to  be 
fatal  to  newborn  infants,  and  explains  his  long  resi 
dence  with  Mrs.  Law  on  the  theory  that  he  was 
regarded  at  home  as  one  too  many,  who  would  be 
only  in  the  way  if  returned  to  the  parental  mansion. 

In  referring  to  this  long  separation  from  the 
family,  he  said  that  there  was  once  a  malicious  sug 
gestion  that  in  some  mysterious  way  his  identity 
was  changed,  and  that  he  was  a  changeling  after 
all,  but  he  remarked  that  one  had  only  to  look  at 
his  mother's  features,  which  were  exactly  like  his 
own,  to  see  how  groundless  this  suspicion  was.  It 
had  its  origin  in  the  fact  that  he  was  really  quite 
unlike  the  rest  of  the  children  in  temper  and  in 
disposition. 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  13 

But  he  was  not  long  to  enjoy  the  domestic  felicity 
of  home.  The  sooner  children  were  sent  to  school 
in  those  days  the  better  it  was  for  all  concerned, 
and  it  must  have  been  a  great  relief  for  a  great  part 
of  the  day  when  all  the  five  children  were  in  school. 
At  the  early  age  of  two  and  one-half  years  he  ac 
companied  his  brother  William  to  the  Dames' 
School,  which  he  attended  until  he  was  seven  years 
old. 

The  Dames'  Schools  were  a  peculiar  and  very 
important  institution  of  New  England,  and  had 
been  so  from  their  foundation.  Each  was  entirely 
independent,  related  in  no  way  to  any  other  school, 
and  contributed  substantially  to  the  support  of 
otherwise  helpless  dames,  and  to  the  welfare  of 
their  little  charges.  The  tuition  fees  must  have 
been  infinitely  small.  And  yet  they  constituted  all 
that  his  father  ever  paid  for  his  education  until  he 
entered  Harvard  College.  It  was  very  primitive 
in  its  educational  advantages,  kept  by  an  aged  spin 
ster,  Miss  Lewis,  and  her  widowed  sister,  Mrs. 
Strutter,  and  attended  by  about  twenty  boys  and 
girls,  the  children  of  the  neighborhood.  "I  per 
fectly  remember,"  he  said,  "my  first  morning  at 
the  school  when  I  was  put  in  the  charge  of  the 
biggest  girl  among  the  scholars,  who  afterwards 
became  a  dignified  matron  of  the  city,  the  wife  of  a 
distinguished  lawyer  and  the  mother  of  a  consider 
able  family.  The  schoolroom  was  of  moderate  di 
mensions,  the  boys  upon  one  side  of  the  room  and 
the  girls  upon  the  other  side.  The  only  punishment 


14  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

that  I  remember  at  the  school  for  any  boy  who  mis 
behaved  was  to  be  compelled  to  sit  among  the  girls. 
This  was  a  little  awkward  at  first,  but  I  soon  got 
used  to  it,  and  liked  it  very  much.  It  was  like  a 
modern  kindergarten  without  the  apparatus,  but  we 
did  learn  to  read  and  write  and  cipher.  I  cannot 
recall  the  time  when  I  could  not  do  all  of  these 
things.  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts,  with  whom  I  was 
long  associated,  is  recorded  in  the  life  of  his  father 
as  being  able  to  read  the  Bible  perfectly  well  at 
three  years  of  age.  I  do  not  think  that  I  was  quite 
equal  to  that,  but  certainly  had  begun  to  read  at 
that  age. 

"The  surroundings  of  the  school  were  attractive. 
Across  Sewell  Street,  where  it  was  situated,  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  my  father's  house,  there  was  a 
wheelwright,  and  it  was  great  fun  for  the  children 
to  gather  about  this  skillful  mechanic  and  watch  his 
work.  His  name  was  Ira  Patch.  At  the  corner,  as 
we  turned  into  Sewell  Street  from  Essex  Street, 
was  quite  a  noted  hardware  store  kept  by  Jonathan 
Peele,  and  his  shop  window,  with  its  wonderful  col 
lection  of  all  kinds  of  hardware,  was  a  constant 
attraction.  But  best  of  all,  in  immediate  contiguity 
with  the  schoolhouse,  was  a  famous  blacksmith  shop, 
kept  by  Benjamin  Cutts,  whose  forge  in  active 
operation  it  was  a  daily  delight  to  watch.  He  was 
something  more  to  us  than  a  mere  neighbor,  for 
sometimes,  when  one  of  the  boys  who  was  constitu 
tionally  refractory  became  unmanageable  the 
schoolmistress  called  out :  *  Send  for  Mr.  Cutts ;  send 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  15 

for  Mr.  CuttsP  and  the  sturdy  blacksmith  came  to 
the  rescue  and  suppressed  the  offender." 

The  town  schools,  at  that  time,  were  in  an  ex 
tremely  rude  and  primitive  state,  very  much  as 
they  must  have  been  for  two  hundred  years  at  least. 
"I  remember  perfectly  well,"  he  said,  " being  taken 
by  the  hand  by  my  father,  the  morning  I  was  seven 
years  old,  to  the  public  school — an  alarming  experi 
ence  indeed — for  the  master,  Abner  Brooks,  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  perfect  terror.  He  was  a 
weakly  man  and  made  up  for  that  infirmity  by  a 
liberal  use  of  the  cowhide,  which  he  applied  very 
freely. 

"The  Central  School,  as  it  was  called,  was  in 
Washington  Street,  kept  in  one  large  room,  where 
there  must  have  been  about  fifty  boys,  from  seven 
years  old  to  fifteen.  We  sat  on  benches  which 
stretched  across  the  room  from  front  to  rear  with 
an  aisle  between,  on  a  sloping  floor,  and  as  the 
youngest  boys  were  on  the  back  seat,  we  were 
marched  up  in  the  face  of  the  whole  room  to  our 
place  there ;  it  was  really  a  terrible  experience. 

"All  the  teaching  was  done  by  this  one  man,  who 
heard  the  successive  classes  recite  from  nine  to 
twelve  in  the  morning  and  from  two  to  five  in  the 
afternoon.  At  the  close  of  every  day  a  group  of 
offenders  were  stopped  after  school  to  receive  the 
application  of  the  rod,  and  this  was  in  addition  to 
the  use  of  the  long  rod  which  would  reach  the  backs 
of  half  a  dozen  boys  on  the  same  bench,  and  was 
applied  from  the  central  aisle. 


16  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"On  the  whole  it  was  a  pretty  brutal  affair. 
There  were  no  games  and  no  recreation  at  the 
school.  The  only  thing  that  might  be  so  considered 
was  when  a  new  load  of  wood  came ;  the  best  boys 
were  allowed  to  get  it  in,  which  was  regarded  as  a 
special  privilege.  Certainly  there  must  have  been 
much  waste  of  time  in  the  years  that  I  spent  at  that 
school. 

1  i  The  master  had  no  special  gift  for  teaching.  It 
certainly  was  a  dreary  routine  with  little  to  miti 
gate  the  rudeness  and  dreariness  of  it.  But,  now 
and  then,  when  our  school-teacher  felt  uncommonly 
well,  he  would  make  us  a  little  speech,  and  say  that 
hereafter  he  was  going  to  rule  by  love,  and  as  proof 
of  it  he  would  cut  up  both  his  cowhides  and  have 
them  burned  up  in  the  stove.  But  in  a  few  days 
this  did  not  prove  satisfactory,  and  new  rods  were 
purchased,  and  never  spared  for  fear  of  spoiling 
the  children. 

"Happily  for  us  all,  Horace  Mann  soon  came  to 
the  rescue  and  convinced  the  people  of  Massachu 
setts  that  decent  and  sanitary  schoolhouses,  humane 
treatment  and  skilled  teachers,  really  qualified  for 
their  task,  were  the  best  investment  that  the  State 
could  make." 

One  of  his  most  characteristic  and  charm 
ing  addresses  deals  with  his  youthful  days  in 
Salem.  There  is  an  intimacy  of  thought,  and  a 
chasteness  and  simplicity  of  expression,  which 
impart  a  beautiful  touch  of  manly  feeling  to 
his  recollections  of  childhood  associations  and 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDEE  17 

surroundings,  making  it  altogether  unique  and 
delightful. 

He  gives  us  with  unusual  charm  and  simplicity 
something  of  his  school-day  life  in  Salem : 

"In  those  palmy  days  of  Salem,  Mr.  Chairman, 
when  I  was  a  child,  education  was  no  joke.  The 
business  of  life  begun  with  us  in  earnest  as  soon  as 
we  had  learned  to  speak.  There  was  no  playing  or 
dallying  with  the  children  until  they  were  seven  or 
eight  years  old,  as  is  now  often  the  case.  At  three 
years  old  the  great  business  of  education  must  have 
been  fairly  started.  Why,  sir,  I  perfectly  remember 
at  the  age  of  two  and  three-quarters  being  led  by  the 
distinguished  judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York  (his  brother  the 
Hon.  William  G.  Choate)  who  had  then  attained  the 
ripe  age  of  four,  and  who  I  may  say  in  passing, 
even  then  exhibited  those  marked  qualities  of  judi 
cial  mind  and  character  which  have  recently  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States — being  led  by  him  to  that  ancient  seminary 
for  beginners  in  Sewell  Street,  adjoining  the  black 
smith's  shop  of  Benjamin  Cutts,  which  as  far  sur 
passed  modern  kindergartens  as  these  excel  the 
common  infants'  school.  Well,  then,  at  the  age  of 
seven  the  boys  of  Salem  of  this  district  were  trans 
ferred  to  the  Central  School  in  Court  Street,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  old  Court  House,  to  be  thrashed 
for  the  period  of  three  years  under  Abner  Brooks, 
of  blessed  memory.  Felt,  in  his  Annals  of  Salem 
has  made  one  curious  and  inexcusable  blunder 


18  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

which,  for  the  truth  of  history,  I  wish  to  correct. 
He  declares  that  the  whipping  post  that  used  to 
stand  in  the  rear  of  the  old  Court  House  was  not 
used  after  1805.  I  know  better.  I  can  swear  from 
personal  knowledge  that  it  was  still  in  active  use 
in  1839,  and  can  show  you  the  very  spot.  Well,  then, 
we  were  transferred  to  the  High  School  under  the 
gentle,  the  patient,  the  ever  faithful  Rufus  Putnam, 
the  best  model  of  perfection  in  a  teacher,  I  believe, 
that  even  Salem  has  ever  seen. 

"And  last,  not  least,  came  that  glorious  old 
establishment  on  Broad  Street,  the  public  Latin 
School,  the  schola  publica  prima,  which  had  stood 
from  the  foundation  of  the  colony,  which  sent 
George  Downing,  who  proved  to  be  one  of  its  worst 
boys,  to  Harvard  College,  to  join  its  first  class,  and 
which  has  sent  a  long  procession,  two  hundred  years 
long,  of  the  flower  of  Essex  chosen  from  the  homes 
of  Salem,  to  graduate  at  Harvard  College;  and  at 
last,  after  our  time,  was  merged  in  the  High 
School." 

His  subsequent  training  and  surroundings  em 
phasized  and  strengthened  these  early  influences. 
Progressing  through  the  High  School  he  found  his 
pathway  leading,  as  was  to  be  expected,  toward  the 
classic  shades  of  Harvard.  For  Harvard,  and 
everything  pertaining  to  it,  he  always  manifested 
deep  interest  and  affection.  Here  he  found  most 
valuable  training  in  association  with  his  brother, 
Judge  William  G.  Choate,  and  James  C.  Carter, 
who  preceded  him  by  two  years,  and  with  whom,  in 


HARVARD  '52  CLASS  PICTURE 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDEE,  19 

these  student  days,  was  laid  the  foundation  of  an 
intimate  friendship  which  survived  the  strain  of 
many  well-fought  legal  contests,  and  the  often  ag 
gravating  differences  of  professional  life,  and  left 
its  chords  unbroken  until  severed  by  Mr.  Carter's 
death.  He  gives  us  an  interesting  picture  of  Mr. 
Carter  in  their  Harvard  days. 

1 '  When  I  entered  Harvard  College  in  1848  Mr. 
Carter,  who  had  already  been  there  for  two  years, 
was  a  very  marked  man  among  the  three  hundred 
students  who  then  constituted  the  entire  community 
of  that  little  college.  To  very  commanding  abilities 
he  added  untiring  industry,  and  to  lofty  character 
most  pleasing  manners,  a  combination  which  made 
him  easily  foremost.  He  was  filled  with  an  hon 
orable  ambition,  and  took  all  the  prizes ;  he  took  an 
interest  in  the  public  questions  of  the  day  and  cul 
tivated  the  art  of  speaking  with  discriminating 
assiduity;  he  was  a  devoted  admirer  of  Mr.  Web 
ster,  who  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  kindle 
the  patriotism  and  arouse  the  national  spirit  of  the 
younger  generation,  and  I  always  thought  he 
modeled  himself  upon  that  noble  example  in  style, 
in  expression  and  in  the  mode  of  treating  every 
question  that  arose.  Indeed  in  his  last  years  I  re 
garded  him  as  the  last  survivor  of  the  Websterian 
school.  .  .  .  From  lack  of  means  Mr.  Carter 
found  it  a  hard  struggle  to  go  through  College,  and 
even  to  enter  it.  For  this  reason  he  came  two  years 
late.  Having,  I  believe,  engaged  in  some  com 
mercial  employment  to  enable  him  to  enter,  he  did 


20  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

not  hesitate  to  avail  himself  of  the  generous  aid 
of  an  admiring  fellow  townsman,  who  recognized 
his  great  qualities,  and  meant  that  they  should  not 
be  lost  to  the  world.  .  .  .  Seeing  his  manifest 
ability,  his  spirited  and  attractive  personality  and 
his  sympathetic  interest  in  all  our  college  affairs, 
we  all  recognized  him  as  our  leader,  and  he  exercised 
a  potent  influence  upon  all  his  companions.  He  was 
made  class  orator  at  commencement,  and  entered 
upon  life  with  assured  prospects  of  success." 

In  his  address  at  the  memorial  meeting  in  New 
York  in  honor  of  the  late  Phillips  Brooks,  he  paid  a 
beautiful  tribute  to  his  memory,  and  drew  a  charm 
ing  picture  of  him  in  his  college  days.  He  said  of 
him:  "We  were  college  boys  together,  and  I  knew 
and  honored  and  loved  him.  Well  do  I  remember, 
as  if  it  were  but  yesterday,  when  my  eyes  first 
rested  upon  him  as  he  entered  the  Chapel  at 
Harvard  College  in  the  freshman  class  forty-four 
years  ago,  a  tall  and  slender  stripling,  towering 
above  all  his  companions,  with  that  magnificent 
head,  that  majestic  face  already  grave  and  serious, 
with  those  great  brown  eyes  lighting  it,  beaming 
with  brotherly  love  and  tenderness." 

Although  below  his  brother  William  in  rank  as 
a  scholar  he  was,  nevertheless,  rather  more  promi 
nent  in  College.  He  was  agreeable  and  popular, 
and  known  as  an  easy  and  pleasant  speaker,  cul 
tivating  the  conversational  in  oratory,  and  being  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  this  mode  of  addressing  an  audi 
ence.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Hasty  Pudding, 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  21 

Alpha  Delta  Phi,  the  Institute  of  1770,  and  at  the 
end  of  his  course,  like  his  brothers,  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 
During  his  senior  year  his  room  was  Holworthy  21. 

He  was  under  three  presidents,  Everett,  Sparks 
and  Walker.  Among  the  professors  was  Professor 
Webster,  who  was  afterwards  convicted  of  murder; 
Rev.  Frank  Francis  who  prayed  so  long  that  it 
was  a  saying  of  the  students  that  when  he  got  going 
he  could  not  stop,  and  that  one  of  his  familiar 
prayers  was  "Oh  Lord,  we  pray  thee  make  the  in 
temperate  temperate,  the  insincere  sincere,  and  the 
industrious  dustrious."  There  was  the  never-to-be- 
forgotten  Evangelinus  Apostolicus  Sophocles,  Pro 
fessor  of  Greek ;  Edward  T.  Channing,  Professor  of 
Rhetoric;  Francis  J.  Child,  of  History  and  Elocu 
tion;  Dr.  Beck,  of  Latin;  Cornelius  C.  Felton,  of 
Mathematics;  Professors  Henry  W.  Longfellow, 
Louis  Agassiz  and  Asa  Gray. 

Speaking  recently  to  Harvard  men  he  said:  "I 
am  convinced  that  our  alma  mater  is  more  youth 
ful,  more  vigorous  and  more  prolific  than  ever.  The 
President  has  stated  in  his  annual  report — which  I 
always  read  when  preparing  for  this  occasion — that 
every  year  it  is  becoming  harder  to  get  into 
Harvard  College,  harder  to  stay  in  it  and  harder 
to  get  out  of  it." 

Among  those  who  were  in  the  first  eight  with  him 
in  the  class  of  '52  were  Addison  Brown,  subse 
quently  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court ; 
Decia  Collins,  who  fought  on  the  Confederate  side 
in  the  Civil  War ;  Honorable  Darwin  E.  Ware,  who 


22  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

died  a  few  years  ago;  Horatio  Alger,  Jr.,  well 
known  as  a  writer  of  books  for  boys ;  William  E. 
Ware,  Professor  of  Architecture  in  Columbia  Col 
lege;  Horace  H.  Coolidge,  President  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Sun;  E.  F.  W.  Gurney,  famous  as  a  member 
of  the  Harvard  faculty ;  David  W.  Cheever,  eminent 
as  a  surgeon ;  and  James  B.  Thayer,  of  the  Harvard 
Law  School.  From  College,  the  way  of  the  New 
England  aspirant  for  legal  training  led,  most  nat 
urally,  to  the  Harvard  Law  School.  Here  he 
sounded  the  depths  of  legal  learning  under  notable 
instructors.  Concerning  these  he  said  to  me : 

"In  the  Law  School  were  Joel  Parker,  formerly 
Chief  Justice  of  New  Hampshire,  so  tremendously 
profound  I  could  not  get  anything  from  him.  The- 
ophilus  Parsons,  the  son  of  Chief  Justice  Parsons, 
of  Massachusetts,  was  a  wit,  and  illustrated  his 
points  of  law  by  amusing  stories.  These  I  re 
member.  Professor  Loring,  as  United  States  Com 
missioner,  sent  the  negro  Burns  back  to  slavery. 
One  of  his  favorite  sayings  was  that  *  husband  and 
wife  are  one,  and  that  one  is  the  husband  V  Among 
his  classmates  were  his  brother,  William  G.  Choate ; 
Judge  Addison  Brown,  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York;  Professor 
James  B.  Thayer,  whose  treatises  on  evidence  and 
on  the  Constitution  attained  wide  celebrity;  and 
others  were  U.  S.  Senators  William  E.  Chandler,  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  James  B.  Eustis,  of  Louisiana. 

I  told  him  I  wanted  to  get  some  facts  concerning 
his  life  at  the  Harvard  Law  School.  He  replied: 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  23 

"There  was  nothing  of  interest  there;  all  we  had 
to  do  was  to  go  to  Holworthy  once  a  day  and  wear 
out  the  seat  of  our  trousers. " 

About  this  time  Dr.  Fowler,  the  famous  phrenolo 
gist,  was  examining  students'  heads,  giving  them 
charts  showing  their  peculiarities  and  advising 
them  what  life  work  to  pursue.  Choate  had  already 
matured  his  plans  to  study  law,  and  his  peculiar 
gifts  in  that  direction  were  universally  commented 
on  in  the  College.  One  day  he  suggested  to  a  class 
mate  that  they  have  their  heads  examined  by  Dr. 
Fowler,  just  for  fun.  Fowler's  advice  to  Joseph 
Choate  is  one  of  the  immortal  jests  of  that  selected 
coterie  that  meets  at  class  reunions  and  lives  over 
the  old  days.  "I  advise  you,  sir,"  quoth  the  phre 
nologist  to  the  young  student,  after  examining  his 
bumps,  "to  become  a  merchant.  I  find  that  you  are 
fitted  for  that  sort  of  life." 

"Well,  supposing  I  should  study  law,  what  then?" 
asked  Choate. 

"Oh,  I  wouldn't  do  that,"  replied  Fowler  with 
increased  decision.  "You  will  make  a  great  failure 
if  you  do." 

Subsequently,  he  spent  a  year  in  the  office  of 
Leverett  Saltonstall,  a  distinguished  Boston  lawyer, 
whose  memory  he  has  embalmed  in  an  interesting 
address  included  in  his  book  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
Other  Addresses.  During  his  tutelage  under  Mr. 
Saltonstall  it  was  one  of  his  duties  to  take  the 
papers  in  cases  to  the  Court  for  use  by  his  senior. 
As  he  was  proceeding  to  Court,  with  a  large  package 


24  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

of  papers  contained  in  the  traditional  green  bag 
used  by  the  Boston  Bar,  he  was  accosted  by  a  son  of 
Israel  with  the  query :  ' '  Old  clothes ! "  ' '  No, ' '  he 
replied,  "a  new  suit!" 

Recognizing  the  larger  field  afforded  by  New 
York  for  the  pursuit  of  his  professional  career,  he 
determined  to  forsake  New  England  surroundings 
and  enter  upon  the  life  of  a  New  York  lawyer.  In 
duced  to  this,  quite  likely,  by  Mr.  Carter  who,  in 
1853,  had  received  an  attractive  offer  to  enter  upon 
practice  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Mr.  Choate  began, 
in  the  following  year,  to  study  the  code  in  the  office 
of  Scudder  &  Carter.  Perhaps,  however,  this  was 
an  experiment,  and  not  a  settled  purpose,  and  he 
may  not  have  reached  a  final  decision  as  to  the  field 
of  his  labors  until  he  delivered  to  Mr.  Evarts  a 
letter  from  Eufus  Choate  set  forth  in  the  preface 
to  his  book  American  Addresses.  This  letter  dated 
at  Boston,  September  24,  1855,  said : 

"My  dear  Mr.  Evarts : 

I  beg  to  incur  one  other  obligation  to  you  by  in 
troducing  the  bearer,  a  kinsman,  to  your  kindness. 

He  is  just  admitted  to  our  Bar,  was  graduated  at 
Cambridge  with  high  honors,  all  work.  He  comes 
to  the  practice  of  law  with  extraordinary  promise. 
He  has  decided  to  enroll  himself  among  the  brave 
and  magnanimous  of  your  Bar,  with  a  courage  not 
unwarranted  by  his  talent,  character,  ambition  and 
power  of  labor.  There  is  no  young  man  whom  I 
love  better,  or  from  whom  I  hope  more,  or  as  much, 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  25 

and  if  you  can  do  anything  to  smooth  the  way  to 
his  first  step,  that  kindness  will  be  most  seasonable, 
and  will  yield  all  sorts  of  good  fruits. 

Most  truly  your  servant  and  friend, 

Eufus  Choate." 

The  letter  was  productive  of  larger  and  better 
results  than  any  which  lofty  ambition,  or  vivid 
imagination,  could  have  contemplated.  Entering 
the  office  of  Butler,  Evarts  &  Southmayd  in  1855  he 
remained  there  as  an  employee  until  1859.  Mr. 
Evarts  was  then  only  forty  years  of  age,  but  oc 
cupied  a  commanding  position  at  the  Bar.  Mr. 
Choate  stated  in  one  of  his  addresses  that  his  most 
valuable  experience  was  gained  in  the  ten  years 
he  followed  Mr.  Evarts  about  in  the  Courts,  in  the 
trial  of  cases  and  the  argument  of  appeals ;  but,  of 
course,  Mr.  Evarts  relied  upon  Mr.  Choate  for  the 
preparation  of  the  cases,  and  for  the  performance 
of  the  routine  work  which  belongs  to  junior  counsel, 
and  this  was  an  exceedingly  advantageous  experi 
ence  for  both.  In  an  address  on  'the  New  England 
Society  in  1855,'  he  alludes  feelingly  and  with  great 
beauty  and  force  to  Mr.  Evarts,  as  follows : 

"What  a  splendid  example  of  New  England  cul 
ture  and  New  England  training  was  Mr.  Evarts.  I 
owe  him  more  than  words  can  tell.  My  connection 
with  him  was  very  close  from  my  arrival  here  in 
1855  until  his  death  in  1901.  I  brought  to  him  a 
letter  of  introduction,  such  as  I  have  described, 
from  Rufus  Choate,  who  was  then  at  the  very  zenith 


26  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

of  his  fame.  A  few  years  before  he  had  delivered 
before  this  Society  his  famous  oration,  of  which  the 
refrain  was  'a  Church  without  a  Bishop  and  a  State 
without  a  King'.  He  was  most  beloved  and  most 
honored  by  all  New  Englanders,  as  well  as  by  the 
rest  of  the  country.  When  I  handed  that  letter  to 
Mr.  Evarts  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  said :  '  Join 
the  New  England  Society  and  come  into  my  office/ 
and  my  future  was  made.  My  first  steps  were  made 
unusually  smooth  by  him.  What  a  great  profes 
sional  career  he  enjoyed.  How  he  leaped  to  the 
front  almost  at  the  beginning  of  his  life  here  in 
1840,  and  maintained  his  place  to  the  end  against 
all  competitors,  and  with  the  entire  confidence  of 
the  profession  and  the  community." 

He  had  been  with  Mr.  Evarts  for  about  four  years 
when  he  formed  an  association  with  General  W.  H. 
L.  Barnes,  an  excellent  lawyer.  He  was  with  him 
a  year  when  Mr.  Evarts  wrote  inviting  him  to 
become  a  partner  in  his  firm,  and  informed  him 
that  the  office  business,  outside  his  counsel  business, 
would  probably  yield  about  $20,000  a  year  and  that 
he  should  have  15  per  cent,  of  this  amount,  so  that 
he  began  his  career  on  $3,000  a  year.  General 
Barnes  then  left  New  York,  and  went  to  San  Fran 
cisco,  California,  where  he  became  a  leader  of  the 
Bar. 

Mr.  Choate  was  a  typical  New  Englander.  He 
was  nurtured  and  educated  under  New  England 
influences,  and  imbued  with  New  England  char 
acteristics;  he  was  a  graduate  of  her  schools;  a 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  27 

disciple  of  Harvard ;  he  gloried  in  his  New  England 
birth  and  New  England  associations.  In  his  earlier 
years,  he  contributed  generously  of  his  time  and 
effort  to  the  welfare  of  New  Englanders  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  at  whose  annual  dinner  his  wit  and 
eloquence,  among  the  masters  of  American  oratory, 
were  prime  attractions,  and  contributed  largely  to 
the  success  of  the  occasion. 

His  early  life  was  passed  in  the  center  of  what 
may  be  called  New  Englandism.  If  Boston  is  the 
"hub"  of  New  England,  Salem  may  be  described 
as  the  "hub"  of  New  Englandism.  Here,  sur 
rounded  by  characteristic  traditions  of  New  Eng 
land  life,  he  was  imbued  with  their  spirit  and 
received  the  impress  of  their  influence.  He  felt,  as 
was  natural,  deep  affection  for  "Imperial  Salem," 
as  he  called  her,  and  took  pardonable  pride  in  his 
early  association  with  that  interesting  city,  to  which 
he  refers  as  "so  queer,  so  unique,  so  different  from 
all  other  places  upon  which  the  sun  in  his  western 
journey  looks  down,  so  full  of  grand  historical 
reminiscences,  so  typical  of  everythinr  that  has 
occurred  in  the  annals  of  American  life."  .  .  . 
It  was  this  love  of  Salem  that  led  him  to  name  his 
beautiful  country  home  at  Stockbridge  "Naum- 
keag,"  the  Indian  name  of  the  Salem  locality. 

In  an  address  at  Salem  he  said : 

"Of  course,  Mr.  President,  it  requires  great  fore 
cast  for  a  man  to  select  a  birthplace  of  which  he 
shall  always  be  proud;  but  he  must,  indeed,  be  an 


28  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

unreasonable  creature  who,  having  America  for  a 
Continent,  Massachusetts  for  a  State,  Essex  for  a 
County,  and  Salem  for  a  native  Town,  is  not  en 
tirely  satisfied.  Of  course  a  man  born  anywhere 
can  get  along  somehow.  I  suppose  that  the  native 
of  Topsfield,  of  Middletown  or  of  Beverly,  if  he 
repents  promptly,  and  moves  into  Salem,  and  does 
well  there,  may  plead  some  excuse  for  his  original 
sin,  and  if  he  be  of  a  lively  imagination  will  even 
begin  to  boast  of  it.  Why,  Cicero  boasted  of  being 
born  at  Arpinun,  and  Ruf us  Choate  on  Hog  Island ; 
but  it  was  after  one  had  become  the  great  orator 
of  Rome,  and  the  other  of  Boston,  and  so  by  their 
own  fame,  as  it  were,  had  extended  the  boundary  of 
the  cities  of  their  adoption  to  embrace  the  humble 
but,  thanks  to  them,  historic  places  of  their  birth. " 

He  likes  to  think  of  Salem  men  as  different  from 
other  men,  possessing  traits  and  characteristics 
peculiar  to  themselves.  He  tells  us : 

"And  so  it  is  that  you  may  know  a  Salem  man 
wherever  you  may  be,  the  world  over.  He  carries 
about  him  a  little  ' l  auld  lang  syne ' '  that  says  where 
he  comes  from.  Sometimes  it  is  in  the  cut  of  his 
jib  and  sometimes  in  his  coat;  sometimes  it  is  the 
way  in  which  he  cuts  across  the  street  corner, 
always  slanting,  never  at  right  angles;  or  from 
his  style  of  shortening  things,  or  the  way  he  utters 
some  familiar  word.  He  never  takes  off  his  c-o-a-t 
but  his  cote;  he  never  rides  upon  the  r-o-a-d  but 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  29 

always  upon  the  rode,  and  if  he  should  pick  up  a 
final  g  in  "ing"  you  may  be  pretty  sure  that  some 
of  the  Salem  people  are  the  unfortunate  ones  who 
have  dropped  it;  but  if  you  can  hear  him  say  "git" 
of  course  you  will  know  his  very  origin,  and  almost 
the  street  from  which  he  comes.  Now,  in  this  family 
meeting,  as  an  illustration  of  this  subject,  perhaps 
you  will  pardon  me  for  telling  a  little  personal 
anecdote. 

"A  short  time  ago  I  was  arguing  a  case  in  our 
Court  of  Appeals  in  Albany  with  some  earnestness, 
and  there  sat  by  me  a  gentleman  bred  and  born  in 
the  South.  He  listened  with  attention,  and  when  I 
got  through  he  congratulated  me,  but  said,  'I  would 
have  given  $100  if  you  had  not  said  "git."  '  Well, 
Mr.  President,  how  could  I  help  it,  Governor  Endi- 
cott  said  it,  my  progenitors  in  this  town  have  said 
it  for  250  years,  and  so  I  believe  it  is  more  than 
half  right." 

Through  the  many  years  of  his  life  in  New  York, 
he  was  remarkable  for  a  manifestation  of  real  New 
England  spirit  and  character.  New  York  influences 
seemed  powerless  to  change  him  in  this  respect.  He 
was  never  so  much  a  New  Yorker  as  a  New  Eng- 
lander.  His  New  England  traits  were  not  much 
modified,  nor  his  New  England  idiosyncrasies  worn 
off,  by  contact  with  New  York  and  New  Yorkers.  It 
would  not  be  surprising  if  he  considered  himself  a 
victim  of  circumstances  in  that  his  lot  in  life  had 
been  cast  in  New  York,  and  regarded  it  as  merely 


30  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

his  residence,  while  his  home  was  Salem.  No  one 
can  read  his  Salem  address  and  fail  to  realize  that 
in  point  of  real  sentiment  it  had  the  first  place  in 
the  recesses  of  his  heart.  His  characteristics,  his 
practical  and  moral  qualities,  were  those  of  the  New 
Englander.  He  had,  at  all  times  and  everywhere, 
a  spirit  of  Yankee  independence.  He  lived  his  own 
life,  pursued  his  own  methods  and  ideals,  possessed 
the  courage  of  his  convictions,  expressed  his  senti 
ments  fully  and  freely,  undeterred  by  effect  of  con 
sequences,  and  disregarded  unnecessary  convention 
alities.  Perhaps  he  was  a  little  too  independent, 
and  too  much  inclined  to  mingle  with  his  inde 
pendence  some  of  the  ridicule  and  badinage  of 
which  he  was  a  master,  and  this  may  have  been  in 
part  responsible  for  the  unwillingness  of  political 
leaders  to  seek  him  as  a  candidate  for  such  positions 
as  Senator  or  Governor.  His  independence  alone 
may  not  have  been  responsible  for  their  neglect ;  but 
it  is  altogether  possible  that  the  unguarded  jest 
which  strikes  the  vulnerable  point  leaves  a  wound 
often  worse  than  that  of  the  physical  blow,  and  is 
not  always  healed  by  time. 

Mr.  Choate  displayed  certain  outward  qualities 
which  presented  a  very  unusual  and  interesting 
combination  of  traits  of  character.  One  of  these, 
his  bonhomie,  would  impress  itself  upon  a  stranger 
at  the  first  glance  on  meeting  him.  His  cordiality, 
his  geniality,  his  bright  and  cheerful  words  of 
greeting,  his  buoyant  and  hopeful  nature,  accus 
tomed  to  look  on  the  bright  side  of  everything, 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  31 

lent  to  casual  intercourse  with  him  a  most  de 
lightful  charm.  These  qualities  effused  a  beautiful 
light,  and  were  gifts  of  nature.  They  made  the 
exterior  exceedingly  attractive.  When  penetrated, 
however,  the  more  matter-of-fact  qualities  of  human 
nature  were  not  lacking.  He  possessed,  abundantly, 
certain  characteristics  of  the  genuine  New  Eng- 
lander  inherited  from  a  Puritan  ancestry,  which 
made  the  Puritan  strong  and  self-reliant,  enabling 
him  to  cope  with  the  adverse  conditions  of  his  time. 
There  was  a  reserve  and  formality  which  forbade 
familiar  approach.  The  lawyers  spoke  of  him  as 
"Joe  Choate"  but  I  do  not  think  any  lawyer  ever 
called  him  "Joe."  There  was  a  certain  air  of 
pride  and  exclusiveness  which  gave  the  impression 
that  he  regarded  himself  as  somewhat  of  an  aristo 
crat,  and  this  prevented  him  from  being,  what  he 
never  was,  a  man  of  the  people.  This  was  probably 
responsible  for  attributing  to  him  a  certain  exclu 
siveness  which  deterred  old  acquaintances  from 
seeking  familiar  intercourse  with  him,  lest  they 
should  be  repelled.  He  was  born  and  bred  a  New 
England  Unitarian,  and  beneath  his  bonhomie  was 
the  austerity  and  formality  which  characterized 
New  Englanders  of  that  persuasion.  He  could,  when 
he  chose,  be  cold  and  repellent,  he  could  he  hard 
and  unyielding,  and  he  could  use  cutting  wit  and 
shafts  of  ridicule  to  an  extent  which  at  times  would 
arouse  animosity  and  resentment;  but  such  oc 
casions  were  exceptional  and  justified  by  strong 
provocation. 


32  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

On  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  that  Mr.  Choate  in 
his  fundamental  make-up  was  very  different  from 
the  great  body  of  successful  lawyers  who  have  won 
their  position  by  what  he  called  "fighting  in  the 
Courts"  and  with  it  the  necessity  of  insisting  on 
the  rights  of  their  clients,  the  tendency  of  which  is 
to  smother  generous  instincts.  But  these  character 
istics  were,  as  I  have  said,  covered  by  a  beautiful 
robe  of  bonhomie,  and  brilliant  wit,  which  rendered 
the  sterner  qualities  of  the  successful  lawyer  less 
conspicuous. 

In  his  mental  and  moral  composition  there  was 
undoubtedly  considerable  of  what  may  be  called 
New  England  granite.  He  would  not  have  been  a 
genuine  New  Englander  without  it;  but  when  the 
delightful  bonhomie  was  penetrated  it  was  the  same 
in  quality  and  character  as  that  of  his  New  Eng 
land  forbears.  This  combination  of  the  outwardly 
attractive  and  of  the  inwardly  firm  and  unyielding 
were  essential  elements  of  his  wonderful  success, 
and  served,  as  one  of  his  partners  remarked,  as  a 
valuable  defense  against  easy  familiarity  and  ef 
forts  to  impose  on  him,  which  his  outward  gracious- 
ness  were  likely  to  encourage. 

He  also  possessed  the  practical  and  everyday 
qualities  of  the  New  England  Puritan.  He  at  all 
times  urged  the  necessity  of  industry,  persistence 
and  perseverance,  and  displayed  the  Yankee  spirit 
of  resourcefulness  and  thrift.  He  knew  the  value 
of  work.  He  appreciated  the  importance  of  "never 
give  up  the  ship,"  and  possessed  that  New  England 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  33 

thrift  which  enabled  him  to  manage  with  success 
his  private  affairs,  respecting  which,  it  has  some 
times  been  said  of  lawyers,  that  they  neglect  their 
private  affairs  to  protect  those  of  their  clients. 

Then,  again,  he  had  the  moral  qualities  of  his 
Puritan  ancestry.  The  chief  of  these  was,  I  think, 
his  New  England  conscience.  This  was  his  mentor, 
he  did  not  lose  sight  of  it,  he  heeded  it,  he  paid 
attention  to  its  dictates  upon  moral  questions,  and 
with  respect  to  professional  ethics  he  followed  the 
teachings  of  a  genuine  New  England  conscience. 
This,  naturally,  brought  into  action  in  his  daily  life 
rectitude  of  conduct  and  a  keen  sense  of  duty.  As 
a  result,  his  opinions,  founded  upon  conscientious 
convictions,  were  expressive  of  high  moral  senti 
ments  respecting  questions  of  public  and  profes 
sional  life,  and  controlled  his  action  with  regard 
to  them. 

His  natural  impulses  were  undoubtedly  kind  and 
generous  and  led  him  to  consider  the  feelings  and 
rights  of  others,  and  look  with  allowance  upon  the 
follies  and  frailties  of  human  nature;  willing  to 
yield  personal  preferences,  and  concede  to  others 
freedom  to  do  as  they  chose,  so  long  as  they  did  not 
invade  his  individual  rights.  He  was  not  one  whom 
individuals  would  be  likely  to  seek  out  for  sym 
pathy  and  consolation  in  times  of  trouble,  nor  to 
whom  personal  confidence  would  be  imparted,  as  to 
a  helpful  and  warm-hearted  friend.  His  nature 
was,  I  think,  not  calculated  to  enter  into  the  troubles 
and  confidences  of  others,  in  bestowing  sympathy 


34  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

and  advice.  His  tendency  and  natural  disposition 
was  to  make  light  of  them,  and  cast  them  aside  as 
of  no  great  consequence,  instead  of  offering  sym 
pathy  and  encouragement,  and  pointing  a  way  out 
of  a  troublesome  situation. 

His  New  Englandism  found  an  outlet  for  its  most 
attractive  manifestation  at  the  festivities  of  the 
New  England  Society.  The  dinners  of  the  Society 
in  the  sixties  were  characterized  by  early  hours  and 
puritan  simplicity,  and  differed  greatly  from  those 
in  the  nineties  and  in  later  years.  "  Feast  of  reason 
and  flow  of  soul"  were  the  prime  objects.  Those 
were  the  days  of  great  orators,  such  as  Bufus 
Choate,  Beecher,  George  William  Curtis,  Sumner 
and  Storrs,  and  yet,  among  them,  Mr.  Choate, 
scarcely  thirty-five,  to  whom  Mr.  Beecher  alluded 
as  "our  venerable  President, "  found  with  his  fa 
miliar  and  easy  style,  his  graceful  diction  and 
lambent  wit,  a  prominent  place. 

On  December  22,  1866,  the  dinner  was  in  Irving 
Hall  at  the  corner  of  Fifteenth  Street  and  Irving 
Place  at  half -past  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
having  been  served  by  eight  o'clock,  the  President 
arose  to  address  the  Society. 

The  earliest  recorded  instance  of  Mr.  Choate 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  these  celebrations  was 
at  this  dinner.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Arrangements  and,  of  course,  not  on  the  regular 
list  of  speakers;  but  when  the  toast  to  the  Army 
and  Navy  had  been  given  with  three  cheers,  there 
were  loud  calls  for  Mr.  Choate,  and,  in  response,  he 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  35 

captivated  the  assemblage  by  a  graceful  address 
which  began  as  follows : 

"I  know  not  to  what  unlucky  circumstance  I  am 
indebted  for  being  thus  ruthlessly  dragged  from 
that  quiet  corner  where  I  had  found  retreat  to  this 
conspicuous  post  of  danger,  for  it  is,  indeed,  a  post 
of  danger,  if  it  is  true,  as  we  read  in  the  Scripture, 
'that  for  every  idle  word  we  must  give  an  account  at 
the  day  of  judgment,'  where  I  shall  then  find  all  of 
us  after-dinner  speakers,  whether  we  be  clergymen, 
lawyers,  senators  or  merchants.  Our  tally  will  be 
scored  up  on  that  last  day  of  such  fearful  length 
that  no  amount  of  grace  and  good  works  can  wipe 
it  out." 

The  recently  elected  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
Governor  Bullock,  was  present,  and  made  a  speech. 
It  was  natural  that  Mr.  Choate,  being  among  New 
England  men,  many  of  them  from  Massachusetts, 
should  allude  to  the  distinguished  guest,  which  he 
proceeded  to  do  in  these  words : 

"And  now,  Mr.  President,  before  I  go,  let  me 
thank  glorious  old  Massachusetts  for  sending  for 
the  first  time  in  a  score  of  years  her  chief  Magis 
trate  to  grace  our  board.  He  is  the  successor  of  a 
long  and  glorious  line  of  chief  Magistrates,  begin 
ning  with  that  patriot  and  sage,  John  Winthrop, 
whose  face  graces  our  walls ;  and  ending  with  that 
other  matchless  and  noble  patriot,  John  A.  Andrew. 


36  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

His  election  and  elevation  is  another  evidence  that 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  are  true  to  the  lessons 
they  have  learned  at  Plymouth  Kock.  The  first 
great  lesson  there  taught  us  was  to  read  and  cherish 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible.  Everybody  who  has  read 
New  England  history  knows  that  in  all  great  crises 
our  forefathers  went  for  aid  and  instruction  to  the 
Scripture.  Was  an  offer  of  marriage  made,  the 
Scripture  was  consulted  whether  the  lady  should 
accept.  Was  a  child  born,  they  opened  the  Bible 
to  see  what  name  should  be  given  to  the  little  comer, 
and  they  always  gave  high-sounding  Scripture 
names.  When  a  Governor  was  to  be  elected,  they 
looked  for  aid  to  the  Scripture,  and  these  peculiari 
ties  of  the  New  England  people  have  continued  to 
characterize  them.  Last  Fall,  when  Governor 
Andrew  was  about  to  retire,  the  people  again  took 
up  their  Bible  and  learned  from  it  as  they  had  done 
of  yore,  who  was  to  succeed  him.  They  found  in 
the  twenty-fifth  verse  of  the  eighteenth  chapter  of 
the  first  book  of  Kings  the  words  of  the  good,  old, 
logical  Elijah,  spoken,  it  is  true,  at  the  moment,  to 
the  prophets  of  Baal,  'choose  you  one  Bullock  for 
yourselves.'  " 

From  that  time  on,  for  many  years,  at  these 
dinners,  he  was  a  prominent  attraction.  Governor 
Morgan,  President  of  the  Society,  was  unable  to  be 
present  at  the  dinner  of  December  23, 1867,  and  Mr. 
Choate  took  his  place.  He  alluded  in  a  delightful 
way  to  the  affairs  of  the  Society  as  follows : 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  37 

"I  believe,  Gentlemen,  that  it  is  usual  on  these 
occasions  for  the  presiding  officer  to  give  some 
account  of  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the 
Society.  I  have,  unfortunately,  mislaid  the  treas 
urer's  report,  and  have  forgotten  all  the  statistics, 
but,  as  fully  as  I  can  make  it  out  from  memory, 
the  sum  and  substance  of  that  report  is  that  the 
Society  has  of  late  started  on  a  new  course  of  use 
fulness  and  strength;  our  members  have  recently 
doubled;  we  spend  more  money,  and  do  more  good, 
than  in  any  former  period  of  our  history;  and,  on 
the  whole,  are  better  satisfied  with  ourselves,  in 
general,  than  ever  before;  and  that  is  perhaps  as 
far  as  that  characteristic  modesty  for  which  our 
friend  the  Mayor  gave  us  credit,  will  permit  us 
to  go."  Among  the  subjects  touched  upon  by  him 
was  that  of  long  after-dinner  speeches.  He  said: 
"I  have  heard  of  one  unfortunate  man,  in  particu 
lar,  years  and  years  ago,  who  had  such  a  long  tale, 
a  tale  so  full  of  episodes  to  relate,  that  before  he 
got  through  he  was  a  perfect  illustration  of  the 
dog  who  although  he  went  around  and  around  again 
never  could  get  his  tail  in  his  mouth.  I  submit, 
gentlemen,  for  your  benefit,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  eloquent  men  who  come  after  me,  that  the  true 
rule  on  an  occasion  like  this  is  the  one  General 
Israel  Putnam  laid  down  for  his  boys  for  the  dis 
charge  of  their  weapons,  Ho  bring  your  audience  as 
close  up  to  you  as  possible,  to  fire  when  you  see  the 
whites  of  their  eyes,  and  then  not  play  with  the 
trigger  any  more.'  " 


38  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

In  1868  he  had  been  elected  President  of  the 
Society  and  this  called  forth,  of  course,  a  mani 
festation  of  his  playful  wit.  Here  is  a  part  of  his 
opening  address:  "And  now  we  meet  as  the  New 
England  Society  celebrates  its  grand  climacteric  on 
the  anniversary  of  its  birth,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
to  look  about  us  and  see  exactly  how  we  stand,  for 
we  know  that  that  exact  age  of  life  is  the  critical 
period,  and  henceforth  we  must  stand  and  fight  and 
must  do  or  die.  It  is  now  sixty-three  years  since 
our  predecessors  in  this  great  metropolis,  feeling 
the  want  of  that  mutual  protection,  and  mutual 
admiration,  which  makes  life  an  assured  blessing, 
banded  themselves  together  to  protect  themselves 
against  the  representatives  of  other  nationalities, 
who  were  always  seeking  a  hostile  foothold  in  the 
same  community.  Well,  all  we  can  say  about  it  now 
is,  that  here  we  still  are,  and  that  the  trade  in 
Yankee  notions  is  not  by  any  means  exhausted. 
[Laughter.]  I  know  that  they  are  in  the  habit  of 
turning  the  cold  shoulder  to  us  in  the  press,  and 
not  seldom  in  the  pulpit,  and  more  especially  at 
the  meetings  of  those  kindred  nationalities. 
[Laughter  and  applause.]  They  suggest  that  home 
is  the  best  place  for  the  New  Englander,  as  for 
everybody  else.  Well,  we  agree  to  that,  and  take 
their  own  precepts,  and  endeavor  to  put  them  into 
practice,  for  you  will  bear  me  witness  that  it  is, 
in  the  first  instance,  for  every  genuine  New  Eng 
lander  to  make  himself  perfectly  at  home,  wherever 
he  goes  [shouts  of  laughter  and  applause],  and  we 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  39 

have  never  carried  that  out  more  practically  than 
in  this  great  metropolis  of  New  York;  at  the  same 
time  we  mean  to  be  very  modest  about  it.  [Laugh 
ter.]  We  disclaim  all  credit  for  New  England  in 
those  features  which  make  New  York  a  peculiar 
city  among  the  other  cities  of  the  realm.  [Laugh 
ter.]  For  instance,  neither  society  nor  politics  are 
modeled  upon  the  school  of  the  Mayflower. 
[Laughter.]  The  administration  of  her  affairs 
does  not  partake  of  our  methods  [great  laughter], 
even  the  great  successes  of  her  municipal  body.  (It 
should  be  noted  that  the  condition  in  New  York 
was  at  the  time  extremely  unsatisfactory  and  dis 
creditable  and  the  sentences  which  follow  are  in 
allusion  to  this.)  For  instance,  this  thorough  clean 
ing  of  the  public  streets  and  avenues  [laughter], 
the  speedy  and  economical  erection  and  completion 
of  her  public  buildings  [renewed  laughter],  the 
tidy  and  creditable  appearance  of  her  wharves  and 
piers  [laughter]  and  the  wholesome  and  appetizing 
condition  of  her  public  markets  [laughter],  all  these 
are  accomplished  without  any  aid  from  New  Eng 
land.  [Shouts  of  laughter.]  Even  the  administra 
tion  of  her  public  Courts  scorns  to  borrow  any 
luster  from  the  far-famed  jurisprudence  of  New 
England."  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

At  the  dinner  in  1870,  being  again  President,  he 
said:  "Gentlemen,  before  proceeding  to  the  regu 
lar  exercises  of  the  evening  I  wish  to  read  a  brief 
correspondence  which  has  passed  between  us,  and 
the  original  Pilgrim  Society,  in  their  great  cele- 


40  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

bration  at  Plymouth  on  the  Rock  itself.  I  took  the 
liberty  yesterday,  in  your  name,  of  telegraphing  to 
those  assembled  there  the  following  dispatch :  '  The 
New  England  Society  in  the  city  of  New  York  to 
the  Pilgrim  Society  of  Plymouth;  greetings;  we 
have  redeemed  the  original  intention  of  the  pas 
sengers  on  the  Mayflower  to  land  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson  and  hope  to  make  up  for  lost  time,  and 
for  the  treachery  of  the  Dutch  pilot  who  led  us 
astray.  We  have  reclaimed  already  a  fair  portion 
of  this  wilderness,  and  hope  in  250  years  to  win 
back  the  whole.'  In  reply,  I  have  received  to-day 
directed  to  'Hon.  George  Partridge,  President  of 
the  New  England  Society  at  Delmonicos,'  the  fol 
lowing:  'The  great  West,  the  capstone  of  the 
monument  which  shall  stand  in  everlasting  memory 
to  the  fathers  of  New  England.7  I  suppose  that  the 
dispatch  that  the  Plymouth  Society  intended  for  us 
has  gone  to  St.  Louis,  where  there  is  a  society  of 
which  Mr.  Partridge  is  the  President. " 

An  occurrence,  not  unusual  in  those  days,  was 
an  accidental  extinction  of  the  gas-light,  and  the 
Society  was  obliged  to  defer  its  celebration  to  the 
following  evening.  He  alludes  to  this  as  follows : 

"Well,  Gentlemen,  last  night  we  were  driven  out 
in  our  honest  intention  to  celebrate  the  memory  of 
our  fathers  by  what  proved  to  have  been  an  ex 
plosion  of  gas.  A  strange  result  followed  from 
such  a  cause,  in  such  a  company,  when  we  supposed 
that  we  had  been  attending  New  England  dinners, 
in  constant  succession,  to  better  advantage.  I  trust 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  41 

the  ignominious  circumstance  will  never  be  re 
peated,  but  unless  there  be  any  here  of  weak  lung, 
of  those  who  made  up  the  company  of  last  evening, 
I  advise  them  now  and  here  to  immediately  with 
draw,  for  I  give  them  solemn  warning  that  a  fresh 
ebullition  of  the  same  dangerous  compound  is  about 
to  begin." 

At  the  meeting  on  December  15,  1871,  having 
served  the  Society,  in  various  capacities,  for  seven 
years,  he  alluded  to  this  fact  as  follows : 

"  Physiology  assures  us  that  once  in  every  seven 
years  the  physical  man  entirely  changes  his  struc 
ture,  so  that  at  the  end  of  that  period  there  remains 
not  one  particle  of  the  fluid,  or  one  atom  of  the 
matter  which  composed  the  original  individual  at 
its  beginning,  and  that  the  whole  man  is  entirely 
renewed ;  so  that,  in  that  sense,  I  may  with  modesty 
say,  that  I  have  expended  the  last  drop  of  my  blood 
and  the  last  fiber  of  my  being  in  the  service  of  the 
New  England  Society.  Inexorable  time,  whose 
noiseless  tread  and  gnawing  tooth  spare  neither 
presidents,  nor  as  I  see,  the  clergy  either,  has  laid 
his  silent  finger  upon  me,  and  has  given  me  the 
summons  to  join  the  innumerable  caravan  of  ex- 
presidents  who  journey  to  the  dark  and  silent  hall 
of  death;  that  is  one  reason  for  my  resignation. 
Another  is  that  I  have,  of  late,  fallen  under  the 
discipline  of  my  own  worthy  pastor,  who  sits  at  my 
side,  and  he  has  been  teaching  me  resignation.  He 
told  me  that  I  was  rapidly  approaching  that  age 


42  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

when,  as  the  poet  says,  *  every  man  must  become 
either  a  fool  or  a  physician/  and  as  I  could  not 
possibly  become  the  latter,  the  only  escape  he  knew 
from  becoming  the  former,  at  least  in  the  New 
England  Society,  was  to  become  a  little  more 
serious-minded,  to  give  up  those  enjoyments  we 
have  followed  up  so  long,  to  remember  whose 
parishioner  I  was,  and  what  was  the  number  of 
my  pew  and  to  think  of  the  sterner  and  soberer 
duties  of  life." 

In  the  following  year,  the  Society  could  not  get 
along  without  Mr.  Choate,  and  he  was  loudly  called 
for,  although  not  on  the  list  of  speakers.  The 
President  stated  that  he  had  pledged  Mr.  Choate 
his  word  he  would  not  insist  upon  his  speaking  but, 
nevertheless,  he  begged  to  say  he  was  still  in  the 
hall  and  the  festival  would  be  incomplete  without 
listening  to  his  voice.  In  response  Mr.  Choate 
began  as  follows: 

4  *  This  is  a  greater  outrage,  and  more  flagrant 
violation  of  neutrality  than  was  ever  committed, 
even  by  the  New  England  Society,  which  for  more 
than  250  years  has  been  no  respecter  of  persons, 
but  has  always  taken  liberties  with  whomsoever  it 
would.    I  call  upon  you,  Mr.  President,  to  witness 
that  I  came  here  to-night  under  your  safe  conduct, 
and  with  your  solemn  pledge  that  under  no  cir 
cumstances   should  the   seal  of  silence  which,  by 
unanimous  suffrage  in  this  Society  was  placed  upon 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  43 

my  lips  twelve  months  ago,  be  broken.  I  had  sup 
posed  that  seven  years  of  devotion  to  the  interest 
of  this  Society  would  have  entitled  me  to  at  least 
one  night  of  peace  and  obscurity  and  that  I  should 
be  permitted  to  eat  my  dinner  undisturbed.  But 
when  I  came  around  to  the  President's  table,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  evening,  to  bask  for  a  moment 
in  the  accustomed  sunlight  that  shines  there,  and 
boasted  that,  for  once,  I  had  been  able  to  eat  a 
New  England  dinner  in  peace  and  quiet,  a  sarcastic 
swain  on  your  left  replied  that  it  was  the  first  time 
for  many  years  that  I  had  given  anybody  else  a 
chance  to  say  anything  at  one  of  these  festivals. 
But,  Mr.  President,  there  are  examples  even  for 
such  harsh  treatment  as  this,  and  this  is  not  the 
first  time  that  modest  merit  has  been  rewarded 
with  ingratitude  and  oppression.  We  have  read 
that  thousands  of  years  ago  Jacob  had  served  seven 
years  for  Rachel,  and  was  looking  forward  with  hope 
to  his  one  night  of  peace  for  that  enjoyment  which 
should  be  the  just  reward  of  his  trials,  when  his 
horrid  taskmaster  turned  him  once  more  into  the 
pasture,  and  bade  him  renew  the  labors  with  which 
he  was  already  exhausted,  and  I  suppose  that 
Joseph  may  not  complain  of  treatment  that  the  old 
world  said  was  'good  enough  for  Jacob.'  " 

I  attended  the  dinner  on  December  15,  1879,  at 
which  a  number  of  ladies  were  present.  He  re 
sponded,  I  think,  to  the  toast  "to  the  ladies,"  and 
indulged  in  these  pleasantries : 


44  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

".  .  .  I  shall  not  trespass  upon  your  time,  but 
the  fair  persons  in  the  alcoves  behind  me  remind 
me  that  there  is  yet  one  tribute  that  has  not  been 
paid,  which  is  due  from  New  England  sons.  I  am 
sure  that  not  a  word  has  yet  been  said  of  the 
pilgrim  mothers,  and  their  fair  and  worthy  daugh 
ters.  A  sense  of  duty  has  ever  been  the  active 
virtue  of  the  genuine  Yankee  from  December  22, 
1620,  until  to-night.  The  call  'to  arms'  in  whatever 
form  it  has  been  presented  has  ever  received  a  ready 
response  from  him.  It  was  by  the  pilgrim  mothers 
that  the  sturdy  pilgrims  in  the  perils  of  the  sea, 
and  the  still  more  dreaded  wilderness,  were  called 
to  arms,  and  the  sons  of  Massachusetts  responded 
when,  in  four  short  years  of  war,  out  of  the  million 
inhabitants  of  that  glorious  little  State,  she  con 
tributed  200,000  soldiers  and  sailors  to  the  Army 
and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  I  trust  that  in 
this  last  moment  of  this  protracted  festival  you  will 
respond  with  equal  earnestness,  and  with  equal  zeal, 
to  the  call  'to  arms' — to  the  arms  of  the  fair  daugh 
ters  of  the  pilgrims  who  have  too  long  awaited  you." 

On  December  22,  1890,  Mr.  Choate  again  re 
sponded  to  the  toast  " Forefathers'  Day,"  and  the 
occasion  was  remembered  chiefly  for  the  inter 
change  of  pleasantries  between  Mr.  Choate  and  Mr. 
Depew.  Mr.  Choate  began  his  speech  as  follows: 

"Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  New  Eng 
land  Society,  I  thought  I  was  ready  to  speak,  but  a 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  45 

few  moments  ago  Mr.  Evarts,  who  sits  at  my  right, 
put  a  fearful  damper  on  my  spirts.  I  was  express 
ing  to  him  my  profound  admiration  for  Chauncey 
Depew.  'Yes,'  said  he,  'he  has  got  all  the  brains 
you  want.'  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  fact  that 
the  bubble  of  New  England  dinner  oratory  has  been 
blown  of  late  years  to  such  a  proportion,  displaying 
all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  reflecting  upon  its 
surface  not  only  the  picture  of  New  England  which 
belongs  there,  but  that  of  the  whole  country  of  the 
rest  of  mankind,  that  every  year  it  promises  to 
burst  from  its  own  size ;  then  I  should  like  to  know 
what  will  become  of  the  memory  of  the  pilgrim 
fathers?  Only  last  week  I  was  waited  upon  by  a 
representative  of  one  of  our  great  metropolitan 
dailies,  with  the  polite  request  that  I  would  furnish 
him  with  a  copy  of  the  speech  that  I  was  to  deliver 
this  evening,  in  order  that  it  might  be  set  up,  with 
the  rest,  on  Monday  morning  for  publication  to 
morrow.  'God  bless  you,'  said  I,  'I  have  no  copy 
to  give  you.  How  can  I  make  an  after-dinner  speech 
until  I  am  sure  of  my  dinner?  My  speech  will  not 
exist  until  the  President  tinkles  his  little  bell  as 
the  signal  for  me  to  loosen  my  tongue,  or  lose  my 
head  altogether.'  Well,  the  same  little  chap  pro 
ceeded  to  argue  the  matter.  'Why,'  said  he, 
'we  have  all  the  rest  already,  sir.'  'Surely,' 
said  I,  'you  have  not  got  Depew 's?'  'Oh,  yes,' 
said  he,  'we  have  got  Depew 's;  we  have  got  him 
cold.'  That  was  a  little  bit  of  slang  that  he 
did  not  attempt  to  translate,  but  he  left  me  to 


46  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

understand  that  he  had  got  him  set  up  in  cold 
type." 

Mr.  Depew,  when  his  turn  came,  returned  the 
compliment  as  follows:  "The  reporter  who  called 
upon  me  for  my  speech  said :  '  I  have  them  all, '  as 
he  said  to  Choate.  Said  he,  'Have  you  any  poetry 
in  your  speech?'  Said  I,  'No.'  'Well,'  said  he, 
'Choate  has  and,  after  reading  it,  I  think  Choate 
must  have  written  it  himself.'  " 

That  dinner  was  remarkable  for  an  after-dinner 
speech  from  Senator  John  T.  Morgan,  of  Alabama, 
which  was  of  such  inordinate  length  that  the  pa 
tience  of  the  audience  was  exhausted.  Mr.  Choate 's 
speech  followed  this  lengthy  performance,  and  he 
began  as  follows : 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen;  by  agreement 
with  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Alabama  I 
gave  him  all  my  time.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  listen 
ing  to  his  interesting  address,  and  he  has  left 
nothing  untouched  except  what  has  happened  within 
the  last  eight  or  ten  days.  I  had  hoped  to  hear 
from  him  upon  that  interesting  subject.  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  fill  the  gap  by  entering  upon  even 
that  theme  at  this  late  hour." 

At  one  of  these  dinners  I  remember  that  Mr. 
Choate  referred  to  the  Rocks  of  various  countries 
in  these  terms : 

"Borne  had  her  Tarpeian  Rock,  England  has  her 
Gibraltar,  we  have  our  Plymouth  Rock,  and 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  47 

Ireland,  who  must  always  have  something,  has  her 
Shamrock." 

He  once  gave  a  toast  to  "woman,"  and  it  hap 
pened  that,  seated  in  a  gallery,  were  members' 
wives  and  daughters  who  had  come  to  enjoy  the 
feast  of  oratory.  Mr.  Choate,  glancing  up  at  them, 
said: 

"Now  I  understand  the  Scripture  phrase  'thou 
madest  man  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,'  and 
proposed  a  toast  in  the  following  terms:  ' Woman, 
the  better  half  of  the  Yankee  world,  at  whose 
summons  the  pilgrim  fathers  were  always  ready  to 
spring  to  arms,  and  without  whose  aid  they  would 
never  have  achieved  the  historic  title  of  the  *  Pilgrim 
Fathers.'  "  In  his  remarks  which  followed  he 
pictured  them  as  entitled  to  greater  praise  than  the 
pilgrim  fathers  because,  he  explained,  they  endured 
the  same  hardships  as  the  pilgrim  fathers,  and  en 
dured  the  pilgrim  fathers  as  well. 

In  an  address  before  the  Society  December  22, 
1905,  he  gave,  in  his  characteristic  style,  a  charm 
ing  account  of  the  annual  celebration  of  "Fore 
fathers'  Day"  by  the  New  England  Society  in  1855. 
This  was  a  notable  occasion  by  reason  of  a  speech 
by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  advocating  conciliation 
of  the  South  on  the  question  of  slavery.  He  said: 

"We  assembled  to  hear  the  orator  and  poet  of 
the  evening  on  the  21st  day  of  December.  The 
orator,  Dr.  Holmes,  was  the  best  embodiment  of 
New  England  culture  and  refinement.  Tender- 


48  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

hearted,  and  unwilling  to  offend  anybody,  he  de 
livered  a  most  eloquent  discourse,  in  which  he  spoke 
for  harmony  between  the  sections  of  the  country,  so 
soon  to  be  divided.  .  .  . 

"Dr.  Holmes  was  one  of  the  most  loyal  and  pa 
triotic  of  men,  and  no  man  was  more  devoted  to  his 
country,  as  the  result  soon  proved;  but  he  never 
could  have  dreamed,  as  he  stood  there  pleading  for 
harmony  between  Freedom  and  Slavery,  that  in  less 
than  seven  years,  immediately  after  the  bloody 
battle  of  Antietam,  a  telegram  would  arouse  him 
from  his  slumbers  at  midnight,  telling  him  that  his 
first-born  son,  whom  he  had  given  to  the  service 
of  his  country,  and  the  cause  of  liberty,  had  been 
shot  through  the  neck,  but  that  the  wound  was  not 
thought  to  be  mortal;  that  next  morning  he  would 
have  to  start  on  that  famous  search  for  his  captain, 
4 The  Hunt  for  my  Captain ',  and  that  after  a  week's 
journey  over  hundreds  of  miles,  visiting  hospitals 
and  camps  and  railway  stations,  that  he  would  find 
him,  at  last,  among  the  wounded,  in  a  baggage  car 
entering  Hagerstown  in  Maryland,  and  should  ex 
change  those  greetings  so  characteristic  of  the  self- 
contained  Bostonian,  but  which  he  has  made  so 
classical  and  historic.  As  they  came  together,  the 
father  and  the  son,  their  first  words  were:  'How 
are  you,  boy ! '  '  How  are  you,  dad  ? ' 

"When  Dr.  Holmes  sat  down,  then  up  rose  old 
John  Pierpont,  and  blew  a  mighty  blast  for  freedom. 
Why,  you  would  have  thought  that  his  own  withers 
had  been  wrung  by  slavery.  At  any  rate,  the  iron 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  49 

of  slavery  seemed  to  have  entered  into  his  soul.  I 
think  he  must  have  been  in  State  Street  when 
Anthony  Burns  was  hurried  down  on  his  way  from 
the  Court  House  in  the  hands  of  federal  officers 
and  federal  troops,  to  be  carried  back  to  bondage 
in  the  South. 

"  After  Mr.  Pierpont  had  most  pathetically 
spoken  of  the  sufferings  and  troubles  of  the  pilgrim 
mothers  and  the  pilgrim  fathers,  he  broke  out  into 
a  splendid  apostrophe  to  the  spirit  of  liberty,  of 
which  the  pilgrim  fathers  had  been  the  finest  ex 
ponents  in  history,  and  he  concluded  with  that 
stanza  which  he  made  historic : 

'Oh,  thou  Holy  One,  and  just, 
Thou  who  wast  the  Pilgrims'  trust 
Thou  who  watchest  o'er  their  dust 

By  the  moaning  sea; 
By  their  conflicts,  toils,  and  cares, 
By  their  perils  and  their  prayers, 
By  their  ashes,  make  their  heirs 

True  to  them  and  Thee.' 

"Well,  next  day,  came  the  dinner  at  the  Astor 
House,  which  compared  with  this  banquet  of  yours 
to-night  very  much  as  that  ancient  and  simple 
hostelry  of  that  day  compares  with  this  glorious 
house  of  mirth,  the  Waldorf-Astoria, 

"Harmony  prevailed  there,  absolute  harmony, 
in  spite  of  all  that  had  happened  the  night  before. 
Dr.  Holmes  had  improved  the  occasion  over  night 
to  prepare  some  verses  for  the  reunion,  and  show 
how  little  he  had  been  disturbed  by  what  had  taken 


50  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

place  the  evening  before.    Let  me  read  you  two  or 
three  of  his  stanzas : 

1  New  England,  we  love  thee ;  no  time  can  erase 
From  the  hearts  of  thy  children  the  smile  of  thy  face. 
'Tis  the  mother's  fond  look  of  affection  and  pride 
As  she  gives  her  fair  son  to  the  arms  of  his  bride. 

Come,  let  us  be  cheerful,  we  scolded  last  night, 

And  they  cheered  us  and — never  mind — meant  it  all  right. 

To-night  we  harm  nothing ;  we  love  in  the  lump, 

Here  's  a  bumper  to  Maine  in  the  juice  of  the  pump ! 

Here's  to  all  the  good  people,  wherever  they  be, 
That  have  grown  in  the  shade  of  the  liberty  tree ; 
We  all  love  its  leaves  and  its  blossoms  and  fruit, 
But  pray,  have  a  care  for  the  fence  round  the  root. 

We  should  like  to  talk  big,  'tis  a  kind  of  a  right, 
When  the  tongue  has  got  loose  as  the  waistband  grew  tight. 
But  as  pretty  Miss  Prudence  remarked  to  her  beau, 
"On  its  own  heap  of  compost  no  biddie  should  crow." 

"Well,  the  night  before,  Dr.  Holmes  had  told  his 
audience  the  story  of  lo,  beloved  of  Jupiter  and 
changed  by  him  into  a  heifer,  to  protect  her  from 
the  wrath  of  Juno,  but  Juno  was  too  much  for  him, 
and  for  her,  and  sent  the  gadfly  to  torment  lo,  and 
to  drive  her  careering  over  seas  and  continents, 
until,  at  last,  she  brought  up  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Nile,  resumed  her  original  form,  became  the  mother 
of  kings,  and  the  founder  of  a  new  dynasty,  and 
was  ever  afterwards  worshiped  by  the  Egyptians 
as  the  goddess  Isis.  He  had  likened  to  the  gadfly 
the  edicts  of  Elizabeth  and  of  James,  which  had 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  51 

driven  the  Pilgrims,  and  the  Puritans,  out  of  the 
English  Church,  and  had  sent  them  over  the  broad 
ocean  to  found  a  new  empire.  And  when  Mr. 
Pierpont  found  in  what  a  delightful  frame  of  mind 
Dr.  Holmes  had  come  there,  in  spite  of  the  discom 
fort  of  the  night  before,  he  responded  to  his  verses 
with  this : 

'Our  brother  Holmes'  gadfly  was  a  thing 
That  lo  knew  by  its  tormenting  sting. 
The  noisome  insect  still  is  known  by  this, 
But  geese  and  serpents  by  their  harmless  hiss.' 

"And  Dr.  Holmes  immediately  jumped  to  his 
feet,  and  replied,  impromptu: 

'Well  said,  my  trusty  brother,  bravely  done; 
Sit  down,  good  neighbor,  now  I  0  you  one. '  ' ' 

I  do  not  know  how  often  Mr.  Choate  has  re 
sponded  to  toasts  at  these  dinners,  but  the  instances 
I  have  given  illustrate  his  affection  for  the  New 
England  Society,  and  all  that  pertains  to  New  Eng 
land,  and  the  enthusiastic  interest  they  felt  for  him 
as  one  of  their  chief  ornaments,  and  as  a  beloved 
son  of  New  England. 

For  Harvard,  and  everything  past  or  present  per 
taining  to  it,  he  expressed  reverent  affection, 
mingled  with  a  good  deal  of  badinage  and  wit  at  its 
expense  and  of  its  graduates.  Among  Harvard  men 
he  displayed  more  of  the  spirit  of  intimacy  and 
good  fellowship  than  anywhere  else.  At  such  gath 
erings  he  evidently  felt  quite  at  home  and  less  under 
the  ordinary  restraints  of  social  and  professional 


52  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

intercourse.  His  addresses  to  Harvard  men,  some 
times  at  the  more  formal  functions  of  commence 
ment  week,  and  others  in  informal,  and  more  dis 
tinctively  social  gatherings,  contained  abundant 
evidence  of  this.  He  was  then  seen,  I  think,  at  his 
best.  An  element  of  sentiment  suffused  itself 
through  the  occasion,  warming  his  heart,  and  re 
storing  the  youthful  feeling  of  his  student  days. 

A  response  he  made  to  a  toast  in  his  honor  at 
the  annual  dinner  of  the  Harvard  Club,  on  the 
eve  of  his  departure  for  England  as  Ambassador  at 
the  Court  of  St.  James,  well  illustrates  the  truth  of 
this.  There  was  a  large  assemblage  of  Harvard 
men,  and  from  the  moment  of  his  appearance  he  was 
the  soul  and  spirit  of  the  occasion.  Among  Harvard 
men,  everyone  of  them  his  friend,  and  each  bound 
to  the  other  by  the  close  ties  of  Harvard  associa 
tions  and  memories,  he  gave  free  reign  to  his  playful 
wit.  When  his  turn  came  to  speak,  and  after  he 
had  been  cheered  to  the  echo  with  the  "  three  times 
three ' '  several  times  repeated,  he  began  as  follows : 

"I  shall  speak  to  you  very  diplomatically. 
[Laughter.]  I  shall  endeavor  to  conceal  as  strictly 
as  possible  what  is  working  in  my  own  mind.  [Long 
shouts  of  laughter.]  I  shall  make  it  as  clear  as 
possible  that  there  is  nothing  going  on  there. 
[Roars  of  laughter.]  I  am  taking  here  my  first 
lesson  in  diplomacy.  Last  night  I  talked  to  a  great 
company  of  lawyers  whose  first  feeling  was  how 
glad  they  were  that  I  was  going.  [Laughter.]  I 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  53 

speak  to-night  to  a  great  company  of  Harvard  men 
whose  last  thought  I  hope  is  how  sorry  we  are. 
[Long  cheers.]  I  cannot  come  up  to  the  standard 
Professor  Kitridge  has  laid  down:  He  said  the 
great  object  of  Harvard  was  to  have  men  speak 
freely.  Now  my  instructions  are  to  refrain  from 
speaking  in  public  except  on  festal  occasions. 
[Laughter.]  I  do  not  think  this  occasion  comes 
within  the  rule.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  a  festal 
occasion,  and,  in  the  second,  speaking  to  Harvard 
men  is  not  public  speaking  at  all.  [Laughter.] 

"I  did  not  have  the  good  fortune  to  be  graduated 
at  Harvard  under  the  elective  system.  There  was 
no  system  in  my  time.  Those  were  the  halcyon  days 
of  Harvard,  and  there  was  no  such  method  of  edu 
cation  as  described  by  Professor  Kitridge,  that 
resulted  in  a  distinct  division  in  each  class  between 
the  men  of  ability  and  the  fools.  There  were  no 
fools  in  the  class  of  '52.  So  far  as  I  remember,  they 
were  all  able  men  who  thought  it  a  virtue  once  in 
a  while,  or  quite  frequently,  to  make  fools  of  them 
selves.  [Long  laughter.] 

"I  did  not  know  anything  of  the  elective  system, 
but  the  present  athletic  system  recently  developed 
at  Harvard  has  done  a  good  thing  for  me.  A  great 
event  happened  last  Fall.  We  marched  into  the 
enemies'  country  and  took  possession,  and  remained 
masters  of  the  field.  It  was  that  event  which  made 
it  possible  for  me  to  accept  the  great  office  the 
President  has  offered  me  [laughter] ;  but  for  that 
event  I  should  not  have  felt  at  liberty  to  leave  the 


54  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

country.  [Laughter.]  I  had  lived  under  a  solemn 
vow  for  years  not  to  leave  the  country  until 
Harvard  had  won.  When  I  sat  there  in  the  mud 
and  slush  and  saw  from  the  signals  that  Harvard 
was  everywhere,  I  felt  the  shackles  had  fallen  from 
my  limbs.  [Laughter.]  But  seriously,  the  old  days 
were  the  best.  Our  minds  were,  at  least,  not 
crammed  in  those  days.  President  Sparks,  the 
greatest  President  Harvard  ever  had,  left  a  great 
motto  which  makes  his  name  immortal:  'Be  to  thy 
faults  a  little  blind,  be  to  thy  virtues  very  kind,  but 
clap  a  padlock  on  thy  mind. ' 

"The  men  in  the  College  were  left  to  take  care  of 
themselves  and  they  developed  somehow  into  men 
who  have  been  a  glory  to  Harvard  from  that  day 
to  this." 

It  was  a  very  appreciative  and  graceful  tribute 
to  Englishmen,  and  also  a  testimonial  of  affection 
for  his  alma  mater,  that  led  Mr.  Choate  on  April  15, 
1905,  to  present  as  a  memorial  of  John  Harvard, 
founder  of  Harvard  College,  a  window  for  installa 
tion  in  St.  Saviour's  Church  in  Southwark,  to  which 
John  Harvard's  father  belonged,  and  in  which  the 
boy  was  baptized  in  1607.  It  was  designed  by  the 
late  John  LaFarge,  and  is  one  of  his  finest  produc 
tions.  In  the  center  of  the  lower  half  of  the  scheme 
he  represents  the  baptism  of  our  Lord  by  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  showing  in  the  openings  the  angels, 
traditionally  supposed  to  have  figured  in  the  scene, 
waiting  to  receive  the  Saviour's  garments.  Above 


THE  NEW  ENGLANDER  55 

the  figure  composition  a  purely  formal  design  is 
worked  out,  in  the  middle  panel  of  which  is  inserted 
an  old  bit  of  glass,  long  existent  in  the  Church, 
representing  a  coat  of  arms,  in  which  the  lion  and 
the  unicorn  are  dimly  to  be  discerned.  On  the  right 
are  displayed  the  arms  of  Emanuel  College,  Cam 
bridge,  to  which  John  Harvard  belonged,  and  on 
the  left,  the  Harvard  arms.  The  idea  was  not  only 
beautiful  in  itself,  but  his  plan  of  carrying  it  out 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  appeal  to  the  religious  and 
artistic  sense  of  the  worshipers  there,  made  it  a 
noteworthy  contribution  to  the  English  founder  of 
the  university  to  which  he  owed  so  much  as  his 
alma  mater. 

On  that  occasion  he  delivered  an  interesting 
address  on  John  Harvard  which,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  was  the  conspicuous  feature  of  the  oc 
casion,  and  will  be  found  in  his  Lincoln  and  Other 
Addresses. 

If  Mr.  Choate  loved  New  England,  she,  none  the 
less,  loved  Mr.  Choate.  He  was  of  the  finest  ef 
florescence  of  her  training  and  culture,  and  afforded 
a  notable  illustration  of  New  England  character 
istics.  His  life,  for  many  years,  was  lived  at  the 
same  time  with  a  galaxy  of  distinguished  New  Eng- 
landers— Beecher,  Sumner,  Phillips,  Lowell,  Evarts, 
Carter,  and  others,  lawyers,  philosophers,  his 
torians  and  statesmen,  but  among  them  all  he  took, 
at  an  early  age,  a  high  place  and,  with  a  luster  un- 
dimmed  by  years,  sustained  her  worthiest  tradi 
tions,  and  added  new  honor  to  her  name. 


II 

THE  NEW  YORKER 


n 

THE  NEW  YORKER 

MY  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Choate  began  shortly 
after  my  admission  to  the  Bar  during  the  trial  to 
a  jury  of  a  case  of  life  insurance,  in  which  he  repre 
sented  the  plaintiff.  It  increased  in  familiarity 
as  the  litigation  pursued  its  slow  course  through  the 
Court  of  Appeals.* /His  personal  appearance  was 
exceedingly  interesting.  His  slender  figure,  with  a 
suggestion  of  the  student's  stoop;  his  massive  and 
well-poised  head,  with  its  fine  brow;  his  reddish- 
brown  hair,  mussed  by  a  habit  of  ruffling  it  with  his 
hands;  the  dreamy  expression  of  his  luminous 
brown  eyes;  his  smooth-shaven  face,  which,  in 
repose,  lacked  vivacity,  and  wore  an  expression  of 
indifference,  but  kindled  with  agreeable  and  attrac 
tive  animation  when  anything  occurred  to  interest 
him;  his  manner,  free  from  all  assumption  of  dig 
nity  or  formality,  reflecting,  somewhat,  the  free 
and  easy  way  of  the  man  of  the  street;  his  dis 
regard  of  particular  attention  to  dress,  although 
always  dressed  suitably ;  his  somewhat  careless  and 
loose-jointed  gait;  his  deportment,  suggesting  in 
difference  to  appearances  and  surroundings;  his 
accessibility;  the  absence  of  formality,  apparently 

*  62  New  York  Reports,  642. 


60  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

encouraging  familiarity  and  friendship,  presented 
to  the  casual  beholder  a  make-up  of  singular  at 
tractiveness  and  charm. 

His  outward  demeanor,  instead  of  being  char 
acterized  by  energy  and  nervous  force,  created  an 
impression  that  he  had  nothing  important  to  do,  and 
did  not  care  much  whether  it  was  done  or  not.  This 
apparent  nonchalance  and  indifference  character 
ized  him  everywhere. 

Possessing  remarkable  characteristics,  associa 
tion  with  him  was  always  agreeable.  He  was  never 
excitable,  never  ill-tempered,  never  appeared  to  be 
keyed  up  to  make  an  effort.  At  all  times  placid 
and  good-natured,  there  was  also  the  bonhomie  to 
which  I  have  referred,  with  its  graciousness,  its 
light  and  delicate  touch,  its  apparent  proffer  of 
intimacy.  His  friendly  advances,  cheerful  com 
ments,  play  of  wit,  approachableness,  freedom  from 
assumption,  absence  of  all  appearance  of  suspicion 
and  distrust,  made  an  immediate  appeal,  as  though 
he  were  an  old  friend;  the  result  being  that  he  se 
cured  important  advantages,  and  yielded  nothing. 
Although  the  fortunate  possessor  of  these  out 
wardly  attractive  qualities,  there  was  another  side. 
The  charm  of  his  genial  and  gracious  outward  traits 
brought  into  more  striking  contrast  certain  in 
herited  qualities  which  self-interest  called  forth  in 
public  affairs  or  professional  employment.  In  his 
make-up  there  was  a  blending  of  the  light  and 
humorous,  with  firmness  and  dignity  which,  besides 
being  unusual  in  combination,  attracted  men  to  him 


THE  NEW  YORKER  61 

and  protected  him  from  them.  He  could  be  unim 
pressionable  and  unyielding ;  and  it  is  well  he  could 
be  so.  In  social  intercourse,  and  in  his  public  ad 
dresses,  one  saw  only  geniality  and  bonhomie;  but 
beneath  was  the  austerity  of  the  New  England 
Puritan.  He  was  hard-headed  and  keen-witted.  It 
was  useless  to  attempt  to  take  advantage  of  his 
apparent  accessibility  and  friendliness,  for,  while 
one  was  welcome  to  roam  in  the  vestibule  of  friendly 
association  with  perfect  freedom,  the  approaches  to 
more  intimate  relations  seemed  to  bear  the  inscrip 
tion:  "Thus  far  shall  thou  go  and  no  further." 
With  all  his  amiable  and  attractive  outward  quali 
ties,  which  at  once  drew  people  to  him,  he  knew  how 
to  keep  them  at  arm's  length. 

His  tendency  to  make  light  of  situations,  and  let 
loose  his  wit  and  ridicule,  produced  an  impression 
of  want  of  seriousness  which  interfered,  ofttimes, 
with  taking  him  seriously  when  he  meant  to  be  seri 
ous.  When  he  arose  to  speak  his  audience  generally 
expected  a  laugh. 

He  at  all  times  was  easy-going,  an  advocate  of  the 
laissez  faire  principle,  as  if  it  were  not  worth  while 
to  raise  issues  or  start  controversies.  He,  there 
fore,  seldom  appeared  as  a  leader  in  great  public 
crises,  or  as  a  reformer  of  public  abuses.  In  this 
he  was  unlike  some  of  his  associates  who  acted  on 
their  own  initiative  and  were  distinctively  leaders 
and  reformers. 

He  did  not  arouse  public  sentiment,  but  gave  it 
expression.  After  reforms  had  been  initiated  and 


62  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

inaugurated  by  others,  he  undoubtedly  rendered 
distinct  public  service  in  espousing  them,  and  in 
influencing  public  opinion.  In  the  Association  of 
the  Bar,  in  initiating  proceedings  respecting  the  Ju 
diciary,  in  law  reforms  generally,  there  were  few 
occasions  when  he  took  any  part.  Unlike  his  con 
temporary,  Mr.  Carter,  who  assiduously  devoted 
himself  to  the  interests  of  his  profession  by  attend 
ing  and  taking  an  important  part  in  the  meetings 
of  the  Bar  Association,  he  did  not  participate  in 
them,  except  on  rare  occasions.  He  evidently  felt 
it  unnecessary  to  enter  upon  its  discussions  and 
controversies.  But,  far  from  being  an  uninterested 
spectator,  he  sustained  by  his  personal  influence 
and  advocacy  the  measures  best  calculated  to  obtain 
the  desired  result. 

Mr.  Carter,  it  is  said,  once  remarked  that  giving 
Mr.  Choate  credit  for  an  abundance  of  excellent 
qualities,  there  was  lacking  in  his  make-up  capacity 
for  moral  indignation.  This  quality  made  Mr. 
Carter  what  he  was,  a  leader  and  reformer.  His 
moral  indignation  was  aroused  by  evil  tendencies, 
which  others  failed  to  recognize  in  civic  or  pro 
fessional  affairs,  and  led  him  to  act  on  his  own 
initiative,  and  point  out  the  way  to  much-needed 
reform  in  such  a  manner  as  to  enlist  co-operation. 
This  capacity  for  moral  indignation  and  consequent 
individual  action  was  not  so  prominently  developed 
in  Mr.  Choate 's  nature.  But,  because  of  this,  he 
possessed  the  advantage  of  being  able,  calmly  and 
dispassionately,  to  take  a  point  of  view  affording  a 


Courtesy   of  Frederick  II.   Mrserve 

JOSEPH  H.   CIIOATK  ix  1864 


THE  NEW  YORKER  63 

better  perspective,  and  enabling  him  to  form  a  more 
accurate  judgment. 

A  noteworthy  characteristic  of  his  relations  to 
his  fellow-men  was  that,  in  all  that  concerns  the  body 
politic,  he  was  always  abreast  of  the  times.  In 
National  and  State  affairs,  in  philanthropic  and 
social  movements  his  opinion,  carefully  and  deliber 
ately  formed,  was  expressed  with  conscientiousness, 
and  at  the  same  time  with  boldness  and  courage. 
He  could  be  relied  on  to  do  his  part  as  a  citizen  in 
all  that  pertained  to  the  support  of  causes  that 
had  for  their  object  the  advancement  of  the  public 
welfare,  or  the  amelioration  of  social  conditions. 
This  he  would  do,  because  he  was  no  cut-and-dried 
lawyer,  no  slave  to  his  profession,  bound  to  his 
office  and  his  cases  by  bands  of  red  tape,  his  horizon 
limited  by  the  courtroom  walls,  in  his  outlook  on 
human  affairs.  He  saw  rights  to  be  remedied, 
wrongs  to  be  redressed,  social  conditions  to  be  im 
proved,  philanthropic  objects  to  be  sustained,  serv 
ices  of  public  servants  to  be  recognized,  and  literary 
achievements  to  receive  due  appreciation;  and,  on 
all  such  occasions,  his  advocacy  was  sought  and 
contributed  generously,  and  always  effectively,  to 
the  entertainment  but,  better  still,  to  the  enlighten 
ment  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  therefore  became, 
in  himself,  a  recognized  institution  of  New  York 
life. 

Although  he  had  unbounded  popularity  and 
evoked  the  admiration  of  a  host  of  friends,  I  do 
not  think  Mr.  Choate  was-  a  man  of  intimacies.  The 


64  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

friend  who  came  nearest  to  an  intimate  was,  I 
think,  Mr.  James  C.  Carter,  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  between  Mr.  Carter  and  himself  there  was 
very  great  intimacy.  He  did  not  mingle  with  his 
professional  brethren,  nor  with  members  of  his 
clubs,  in  free  and  familiar  intercourse.  He  was 
diligent  and  faithful  in  his  attendance  at  meetings 
of  his  clubs,  or  of  his  professional  brethren,  where 
official  duties  required  it,  but  so  far  as  mingling  in 
ordinary  social  intercourse,  where  the  only  claims 
upon  him  were  good  fellowship  and  sociability,  he 
did  not  seek  opportunities  of  this  kind  to  meet  his 
friends. 

Many  years  ago  Eufus  Choate,  like  Lord  Bacon, 
advised  lawyers  to  browse  in  every  pasture,  in 
making  all  forms  of  knowledge  their  own  since,  in 
the  course  of  their  varied  practice,  nothing  would 
come  amiss.  In  obedience  to  his  dictum  his  kinsman 
has  been,  and  remained,  an  omnivorous  reader. 
Without  a  trace  of  intellectual  pedantry,  he  was 
able  to  assimilate  the  most  diverse,  and  seemingly 
indigestible  mental  foods,  making  them  nutritious. 
His  favorite  studies  were  Constitutional  and  Eng 
lish  History.  His  favorite  authors  were  George 
Eliot  and  Thackeray,  and  he  had  Shakespeare  at 
his  tongue's  end.  But  he  read  all  the  popular  books 
of  the  day — good,  bad  and  indifferent — and  found 
something  in  everything.  Of  course,  such  a  method, 
to  attain  wholesome  results,  presupposes  and  neces 
sitates  a  trained  intellect. 

In  speaking  Mr.  Choate  was  earnest,  when  not 


THE  NEW  YOEKER  65 

playful;  sometimes  in  passion,  but  never  declama 
tory.  His  voice  was  tenor  in  quality,  musical, 
flexible,  under  control  and  effective,  especially 
when  used  in  sarcasm.  His  attitude  was  easy,  in 
formal  and  unpretentious,  sometimes  with  a  hand 
in  his  trousers  pockets,  or  a  thumb  and  forefinger 
thrust  into  the  vest  pocket.  Affability  and  dignity 
characterized  his  bearing.  When  asked  how  he  pre 
pared  his  pleas  and  speeches,  he  said,  "he  thought 
them  out,  but  seldom  wrote  them  out."  The  truth 
is  he  was  always  preparing  for  something  in  what 
he  read,  and  heard ;  and  his  experiences  were  tucked 
carefully'  a  way  in  the  pigeonholes  of  his  mind,  and 
labeled  as  facts,  fancies,  quotations,  or  what  not,  and 
were  readily  drawn  forth  and  used.  A  retentive 
mind,  readiness  in  repartee  and  long  habit,  enabled 
him  to  give  these  accumulations  the  appearance  of 
impromptu  speech. 

This  was  true  of  all  his  oratory.  If  he  made  a 
speech  at  a  political  gathering,  if  he  responded  to  a 
toast  at  a  dinner,  if  he  made  an  argument  before  a 
court,  his  intellectual  resources  and  his  manner  and 
style  of  expression  were  so  perfectly  suited  to  his 
audience,  and  his  play  of  humor  so  captivating,  that 
they  appealed  with  convincing  force  to  the  intelli 
gence  of  his  hearers. 

One  of  the  most  marked  features  of  his  post 
prandial  oratory  was  audacity.  He  took  liberties, 
and  indulged  in  personalities,  such  as  no  other  could 
have  done  without  serious  offense ;  but  his  personal 
allusions,  his  light  and  easy  badinage,  of  which 


66  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

he  was  past-master,  were  so  good-humored  and 
graceful  in  quality,  so  tactful,  brilliant  and  witty, 
that  notwithstanding  they  might  border  on  undue 
liberty,  this  soon  disappeared  in  the  general  hilarity 
of  the  occasion. 

"Who  is  that  impudent  young  man?"  asked  the 
astounded  and  somewhat  irate  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  W. 
Bellows  at  a  Harvard  dinner  in  New  York  years 
ago.  At  that  earliest  of  his  after-dinner  speeches 
he  displayed  a  quality  which  scarcely  ever  failed  to 
reappear  in  his  numerous  subsequent  performances 
of  the  kind.  He  excelled  from  the  first  in  a  sort  of 
light  and  fleeting  audacity.  On  the  occasion  referred 
to  he  made  fun  of  the  most  solemn  of  the  dignitaries 
before  him,  to  their  mingled  surprise  and  horror, 
and  moved  the  flustered  Dr.  Bellows  to  demand  the 
name  of  the  daring  youth  who  could  indulge  in  such 
tricks  of  oratory.  This  form  of  the  toujours  de 
I'audace  evidently  has  its  limitations,  though  in  Mr. 
Choate's  hands,  it  produced  very  great  effect. 

A  prominent  instance  of  this  was  in  a  speech  at 
a  dinner  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society  of  New  York, 
at  which  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  then  Governor 
General  of  Canada,  was  present,  as  its  distinguished 
guest.  By  way  of  compliment  to  his  Scotch  com 
patriots,  the  Earl  assumed  for  the  occasion  the  char 
acteristic  dress  of  Scotland,  the  kilts  and  leggins. 
The  bare  knees  of  the  Earl  attracted  Mr.  Choate's 
attention,  and  he  was  so  audacious  as  to  make  the 
EarPs  costume  a  subject  of  comment.  He  said  in 
part: 


THE  NEW  YOEKEE  67 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  St. 
Andrew's  Society:  Sitting  here  for  the  last  four 
hours  with  the  Governor  General  of  Canada — the 
Gordon  of  the  Gordons — I  take  great  shame  to 
myself  that  I  did  not  leave  off  my  trousers  before 
I  came  here.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  I  do  not 
know  what  my  Puritan  fathers  would  have  said  if 
I  had  so  appeared.  My  impression  is  that  they 
would  have  thrown  me  headlong  from  the  Plymouth 
Rock,  with  which  the  horrors  of  the  Tarpeian  are 
not  to  be  compared.  The  distinguished  Governor 
General  has  said  that  from  his  early  youth  he  has 
aspired  to  join  the  ladies.  Well,  I  think  he  has 
come  very  near  doing  it  to-night.  What  is  to  be 
come  of  the  modern  woman,  this  nobody  knows; 
but,  undoubtedly,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  the 
sexes  will  meet,  and  I  can  conceive  of  nobody  who 
represents  that  union  so  well  as  our  distinguished 
Governor  General.  If  I  had  had  a  pair  of  Scotch 
leggins,  had  I  had  a  Tartan  skirt,  had  I  had  the 
royal  sporan,  empty  though  it  might  have  been,  I 
would  have  worn  it.  [Laughter.]  Let  me  give  you 
a  conundrum,  Gentlemen.  Why  is  it  that  the  Tartan 
skirt  and  the  Scotch  leggins  however  long  you  may 
wear  them  are  always  along  parallel  lines'?  If  you 
cannot  answer  it  I  will  tell  you.  Because  however 
extended  they  will  never  meet.  [Laughter.]  Well 
now  he  has  said  a  great  deal  about  the  Scotchmen  in 
New  York,  and  I  do  but  use  his  words,  that  the 
Scotchmen  have  a  good  deal  to  put  up  with  in  New 
York.  That  is  a  very  fine  sentiment,  but  I  believe, 


68  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

myself,  in  reciprocity,  and  I  will  ask  you  to  answer 
this  question.  How  much  has  New  York  to  put 
up  with  in  the  Scotchmen?"  [Laughter.]  This 
was  audacious,  but  the  kilted  guest  was  soonest 
to  catch  its  humor  and  lead  the  laughter  it 
produced. 

Perhaps  his  most  striking  achievement  of  this 
kind  was  on  St.  Patrick's  Day,  March  17,  1893,  as 
a  guest  at  the  dinner  of  St.  Patrick's  Society.  His 
address  was  of  unusual  spirit  and  humor,  and  while 
some  of  the  Irishmen  laughed  heartily  at  his  sallies, 
others  could  see  nothing  funny  in  it.  When  his 
shafts  of  ridicule,  for  such  they  were,  had  time  to 
rankle,  there  was  uproar  among  the  men  of  Tip- 
perary.  Those  were  the  days  of  Home  Rule  agita 
tion  and,  although  he  began  by  saying  that  he  would 
not  speak  upon  the  subject  nearest  Irish  hearts — 
Home  Eule — his  speech  was,  nevertheless,  a  plea 
for  home  rule  of  a  different  kind  than  that  for  which 
the  Irish  were  clamoring.  An  account  of  his  speech 
as  given  the  following  morning  in  the  New  York  Sun 
presents  a  scene  in  which  generous  applause  and 
laughter  were  accompanied  with  somewhat  different 
emotions  on  the  part  of  some  present.  It  was  a 
typical  Irish  assemblage  on  the  day  of  all  others— 
St.  Patrick's  Day.  "This,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "is 
the  day  we  celebrate,  the  day  that  all  Americans 
celebrate,  the  day  that  makes  the  streets  of  every 
municipality  impassable."  That  morning,  he  said, 
he  put  on  his  tall  hat  and  shamrock  scarf,  and  set 
out  with  the  idea  of  joining  in  the  celebration. 


THE  NEW  YOEKEE  69 

Recorder  Smyth,  a  genuine  son  of  St.  Patrick,  was 
at  the  dinner,  and  his  stern  and  severe  facial  ex 
pression,  as  a  Judge  of  one  of  our  Criminal  Courts, 
gave  point  to  Mr.  Choate's  reference  to  him  as  the 
first  man  he  met  that  morning.  "We  met,"  he  said, 
"at  a  barber  shop  where  he  was  preparing  for  the 
day  that  smooth,  that  smiling,  that  implacable,  that 
terrible  face  of  his."  This  provoked  wild  laughter 
and  applause,  and  everyone  in  the  large  assem 
blage  was  looking  toward  the  foot  of  the  table, 
where  the  Recorder  sat  blushing  and  laughing. 

Referring  to  the  parade  he  said  he  had  missed 
one  feature  from  the  procession — "how  it  would 
have  been  glorified/'  waving  his  hand  toward  the 
representative  of  the  New  England,  the  Holland, 
the  Southern,  the  St.  Andrew's  and  St.  George's 
Societies,  "if  the  men  of  St.  Patrick's  had  laid 
captive,  and  bound  at  their  chariot  wheels,  the  rep 
resentatives  of  these  down-trodden  nationalities." 
But  his  speech  must  be  quoted  to  be  appreciated : 

"All  these  might  have  been  at  your  chariot 
wheels.  For  what  offices,  great  or  small,  have  the 
Irishmen  not  taken?  What  spoils  have  they  not  car 
ried  away!  But,  now  that  you  have  done  so  much 
for  America,  now  that  you  have  made  it  all  your 
own,  what  do  you  propose  to  do  for  Ireland?  How 
long  do  you  propose  to  let  her  be  the  political  foot 
ball  of  England?  Poor  down-trodden,  oppressed 
Ireland!  Hereditary  bondsmen!  Know  you  not 
who  would  be  free,  themselves  must  strike  the 


70  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

blow?"  At  this  there  was  laughter  and  cries  of 
"We  can't,"  and  "There  isn't  any  way  to  do  it." 
Mr.  Choate  went  on:  "You  have  learned  how  to 
govern  by  making  all  the  soil  of  other  countries 
your  own.  Have  you  not  learned  how  to  govern  at 
home;  how  to  make  Ireland  a  land  of  Home  Eule? 
There  is  a  cure  for  Ireland's  woes  and  feebleness 
to-day.  It  is  a  strong  measure  that  I  advocate.  But 
I  am  here  to-night  to  plead  for  Ireland,  with  the 
retaining  fee  in  my  possession,  and  I  propose  to 
plead.  I  propose  that  you  should  all,  with  your 
wives  and  your  children,  and  your  children's  chil 
dren,  with  the  spoils  you  have  taken  from  America 
in  your  hands,  set  your  faces  homeward,  and  land 
there,  and  strike  the  blow. 

"Gentlemen,  the  G.  0.  M.  needs  you.  He  is 
clamoring  for  you,  and  the  G.  0.  P.  to  which  I 
belong,  has  been  so  severely  disciplined  that  it  can 
get  along  without  you.  Think  what  it  would  mean 
for  both  countries  if  all  the  Irishmen  of  America, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  should  shoulder 
their  muskets  and  march  to  the  relief  of  their  native 
land !  Then,  indeed,  would  Ireland  be  for  Irishmen 
and  America  for  Americans  \ 

"As  you  departed  the  Eepublicans  would  go  down 
to  see  you  off,  and  bid  you  a  joyful  farewell.  As 
you  landed  the  G.  0.  M.  would  come  down  to  receive 
you  with  a  paean  of  assured  victory.  Think  of  the 
song  you  could  raise.  'We  are  coming,  Father 
Gladstone,  fifteen  million  strong.'  How  the  British 
lion  would  hide  his  diminished  head!  For  such  an 


THE  NEW  YORKER  71 

array  would  not  only  rule  Ireland,  but  all  other 
sections  of  the  British  Empire.  What  could  stand 
before  you! 

"It  would  be  a  terrible  blow  to  us.  It  would  take 
us  a  great  while  to  recover.  Feebly,  imperfectly, 
we  should  look  about  us  and  learn,  for  the  first  time 
in  seventy-five  years,  how  to  govern  New  York  with 
out  you.  But  there  would  be  a  bond  of  brotherhood 
between  the  two  nations.  Up  from  the  whole  soil 
of  Ireland,  up  from  the  whole  soil  of  America,  would 
arise  one  paean — Erin  go  bragh!" 

In  a  letter  to  me,  Mr.  Choate  referred  to  this 
incident. 

"My  scrapbook  of  that  day,"  said  he,  "contains 
a  lot  of  notices  about  it,  and  it  seems  to  have  made 
quite  a  sensation  at  the  time,  but  they  never  took 
my  advice.  I  advocated  Home  Rule  in  the  most 
sensible  and  practical  manner  in  which  it  was  ever 
presented — that  they  should  simply  go  back  and 
take  Ireland,  and  apply  the  science  of  government 
which  they  had  learned  in  America." 

It  was  at  a  previous  St.  Patrick's  Day  dinner 
that  he  alluded  to  the  generous  potions  from  the 
"Flowing  Bowl,"  or  rather  I  might  say  "Poteen," 
and  the  mellow  condition  of  his  post-prandial 
auditors,  when  he  referred  to  them  as  unquestion 
able  Irishmen  "diluted,  but  not  adulterated"  and 
added  "I  wish  I  might  be  allowed  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  more  to  deliver  a  temperance  discourse." 

No  lawyer  at  the  Bar  of  New  York,  I  venture  to 


72  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

say,  not  even  Mr.  Evarts,  has  been  in  such  great 
demand  at  public  and  semi-public  functions  of  all 
descriptions  as  Mr.  Choate.  On  such  occasions  he 
contributed  more  pleasure,  I  believe,  in  various 
ways,  than  any  other  lawyer  of  his  time.  Being 
unquestionably  a  public  favorite,  his  appearance 
was  a  guarantee  of  success.  His  two  volumes 
American  Addresses  and  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
other  Addresses  give  an  idea,  but  not  a  full  and 
adequate  idea,  however,  of  the  range  of  his  public 
appearances  which  included  not  only  dinners  of  the 
New  England  Society  during  the  years  before  and 
during  his  long  presidency;  the  numerous  dinners 
and  receptions  of  the  Union  League  Club  while  its 
president;  dinners  of  the  Bar,  and  receptions  of 
the  Bar  Association,  and  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  President  of  the  Century  Association  and 
King  of  the  Twelfth  Night  Eevels.  It  may  truly  be 
said  that  these  festivities  would  have  been  incom 
plete  without  his  wit  and  brilliancy  to  enliven  the 
proceedings. 

During  his  long  career  as  President  of  the  New 
England  Society  and  of  the  Union  League  Club  he 
was,  of  course,  expected  to  represent  those  organi 
zations  at  similar  festivities  of  other  societies  and 
clubs.  It  was  fortunate  that  they  had,  for  many 
years,  such  a  worthy  representative,  who  not  only 
shed  luster  on  them,  but  was  able  to  contribute  so 
much  to  the  gayety  of  the  festivities  at  which  he 
represented  them.  The  instances  which  I  have 
given  of  his  brilliant  performances  at  the  St. 


KING  OF  THE  REVEL 


THE  NEW  XORKER  73 

Andrew  and  St.  Patrick  Societies,  illustrate  per 
fectly  that  remarkable  combination  of  audacious  fun 
and  satirical  wit  which  he  heaped  good-humoredly 
upon  his  entertainers  with  such  perfect  tact  as 
not  to  afford  any  just  reason  for  offense. 

Mr.  Choate  was  always  ready,  even  when  pro 
fessional  engagements  and  public  demands  upon 
him  of  various  kinds  were  most  exacting,  to  respond 
to  calls  upon  him  by  philanthropic  societies.  Some 
of  his  most  attractive  and  interesting  addresses, 
thoroughly  original  in  their  vein  of  thought,  and 
lightened  up  with  flashes  of  delicate  wit,  were  de 
livered  on  such  occasions. 

A  conspicuous  instance  of  this,  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-two,  was  an  address  which  he  delivered  on 
April  5,  1864,  at  the  opening  of  the  Sanitary  Fair 
when  he  responded,  on  behalf  of  the  ladies,  to  the 
welcoming  speech  of  General  Dix  on  handing  over 
the  fair  to  the  ladies  of  New  York.  This  address  is 
included  in  his  American  Addresses.  It  was,  of 
course,  a  great  opportunity  to  show  what  he  could 
do;  one  of  those  rare  opportunities  which,  if  im 
proved,  mark  the  individual  as  a  bright  and  shining 
light.  From  that  time  on  he  has  always  been  in 
great  demand  on  all  sorts  of  philanthropic  oc 
casions.  Some  of  these  addresses  relate  to  fresh 
air  for  the  people ;  prevention  of  cruelty  to  children ; 
on  behalf  of  the  children  of  the  poor;  children  in 
private  homes;  teachers'  salaries;  loaning  of  books; 
education ;  and  other  kindred  topics.  Others,  more 
or  less  formal,  but  of  a  different  character,  were  in 


74  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  nature  of  appreciation  of  conspicuous  indi 
viduals  such  as  Phillips  Brooks,  Carl  Schurz  and 
Josephine  Shaw  Lowell,  also  contained  in  his 
American  Addresses,  and  at  the  unveiling  of  busts 
of  noted  scientists  placed  in  the  Museum  of  Natural 
History.  Still  others  were  on  the  needs  of  com 
merce  ;  on  the  education  of  women,  delivered  before 
the  Radcliffe  College  Club ;  on  the  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  before  the  Canadian 
Club;  and  a  notable  one  at  a  crowded  meeting  in 
Carnegie  Hall  in  favor  of  a  non-partisan  judiciary. 
At  a  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  New  York  Exchange 
for  Women's  Work  to  secure  funds  for  the  erection 
of  a  building  sufficiently  commodious  to  offer  show 
rooms,  classrooms  and  offices,  he  made  this  humor 
ous  plea : 

"  There  are  said  to  be  twelve  hundred  millionaires 
in  this  city.  Their  money  is  corrupting  them  and 
their  families.  Now  each  of  you  select  your  mil 
lionaire  or  millionaires  and  get  this  money  from 
them.  Go  personally,  and  take  each  by  the  throat, 
if  necessary.  Above  all,  do  not  make  the  mistake 
of  approaching  them  through  their  wives.  That  is 
the  worst  way.  Let  some  other  man's  wife  take 
the  millionaire  by  the  throat,  and  see  how  quickly 
the  money  can  be  raised." 

While  he  was  most  generous  of  contributions  in 
speech,  he  has  been  no  less  generous  in  contribu 
tions  of  personal  service.  For  years  he  was  Presi 
dent  of  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  and 


THE  NEW  YOEKEE  75 

also  of  the  Association  of  the  Blind.  In  the 
latter  organization,  in  co-operation  with  Miss 
Winifred  Holt,  the  real  head  and  moving  spirit  of 
it,  he  afforded  valuable  support,  and  contributed 
largely  to  its  great  success. 

Mr.  Choate's  political  career  began,  practically, 
in  1856  when  he  advocated  the  election  of  Fremont. 
Since  then  he  has  been  known  as  a  Republican,  but 
not  a  strict  party  man.  He  disdained  to  be  unjust 
to  political  opponents,  and  sometimes  singled  them 
out  for  eulogy.  His  robust  independence  armed 
him  with  reserves  of  influence  for  great  civic  oc 
casions,  but  it  was  also  a  barrier  against  political 
advancement.  He  was  never  nominated  for  public 
office,  except  as  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Con 
vention.  He  was  regarded  with  suspicion  by  poli 
ticians  and  wire  pullers,  and  considered  an  untrust 
worthy  orator,  whose  nimble  humor,  and  mastery 
of  subtle  sarcasm  were  likely  to  give  offense,  a 
notable  instance  of  which  was  the  resentment 
aroused  by  his  St.  Patrick's  Day  speech. 

He  did  his  part,  according  to  his  conception  of 
what  his  part  was  in  political  affairs,  but  he  was 
never  a  politician.  In  almost  every  political  cam 
paign  he  contributed  by  public  speeches  to  the  cause 
he  favored,  rendering  valuable  assistance  by  his 
public  utterances;  but  he  only  appeared  on  the 
platform,  and  was  rarely  found  in  the  audience.  He 
was  ready  to  speak,  but  not  disposed  to  listen.  He 
was  like  a  brilliant  constellation  that  shone  at  a 
distance.  He  did  not  mix  with  the  multitude;  he 


76  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

was  not  a  good  handshaker;  he  was  not  one  of  the 
common  people,  although  the  common  people  heard 
him  gladly.  This  prevented  him,  I  think,  from 
obtaining  a  hold  upon  the  affectionate  interest  of 
the  masses;  although  it  did  obtain  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  his  remarkable  gifts. 

He  was  not  a  stump  orator  or  spellbinder,  in  any 
sense,  nor  did  he  enter  into  statesman-like  dis 
cussions,  calculated  to  educate  the  people;  he  was 
inclined,  rather,  to  make  light  of  his  adversaries; 
and,  like  light-horse  Harry,  make  a  brilliant  dash 
into  their  ranks,  tossing  them  to  and  fro  in  con 
fusion,  prodding  them  with  his  lance  and  leaving 
them  unhorsed,  while  he  rode  laughingly  away.  He 
loved  to  poke  fun  at  his  political  opponents, 
especially  at  Tammany  Hall  and  its  leaders.  No 
more  interesting  instance  of  this  can  be  found  than 
when  Richard  Croker,  boss  of  Tammany,  once 
twitted  him  with  being  an  attorney  for  trusts  and 
corporations  and  rich  men,  adding  that,  unlike  his 
illustrious  kinsman,  Eufus  Choate,  he  had  never 
taken  a  case  for  a  poor  man.  Mr.  Choate,  who  had 
once  acted  as  counsel  for  Mr.  Croker,  replied,  "If 
Mr.  Croker  will  let  his  mind  go  back  for  a  few 
years  he  will,  doubtless,  recall  that  I  took  a  case 
for  a  client  who  was  on  his  own  sworn  testimony  a 
poor  man,"  and  then  turned  the  tables  on  him 
completely  by  his  caustic  wit : 

"This  cordial  reception  that  you  have  given  to 
me  is  almost  as  great  a  compliment  as  I  received 


THE  NEW  YORKER  77 

fast  week  from  the  voluptuous  lips  of  Mr.  Croker 
tdmself,  for  I  must  say  that  I  regard  it  as  the 
trighest  compliment  for  any  respectable  citizen  to 
be  abused  by  him.  [Laughter.]  And  there  is  a 
s^reat  deal  that  hangs  on  the  fact  that  Mr.  Croker, 
for  the  first  time  in  this  campaign,  has  opened  his 
lips.  The  dumb  has  spoken.  [Laughter.]  He 
never  speaks  when  things  are  going  in  a  way  that 
suits  him,  and  I  ask  you  why  it  is  that  this  shrewd 
and  calculating  politician,  at  this  late  hour  in  the 
campaign,  has  found  it  necessary  to  open  his  lips. 
Well,  this  audience  looks  to  me  like  a  good  old- 
fashioned  audience,  who  remember  things  they  have 
read  in  the  Bible.  Croker 's  speech,  and  why  he 
spoke,  recall  to  my  mind  the  familiar  story  of 
Baalam's  Ass.  [Laughter.]  And  in  two  or  three 
points  Mr.  Croker  reminds  us  of  that  very  cele 
brated  beast  of  burden.  In  the  first  place,  until  the 
Ass  spoke  nobody  in  the  world  imagined  what  a 
perfect  Ass  he  was.  [Roars  of  laughter.]  If  he 
hadn't  spoken  he  would  have  passed  into  history 
as  an  average  ordinary,  silent  Ass,  who  carried 
Balaam  on  his  way;  but  when  he  spoke  he  was 
distinguished  over  all  other  Asses  in  the  land.  [Re 
newed  laughter.]  But  that  is  not  the  only  way 
in  which  Mr.  Croker  recalls  that  story.  Why  did 
the  Ass  speak?  Do  you  remember  the  story?  It 
was  because  he  was  frightened,  it  was  because,  as 
the  Bible  says,  he  got  into  a  tight  place,  where  he 
could  neither  turn  to  the  right  nor  the  left,  and, 
in  that  situation,  when  he  saw  him  who  bore  a 


78  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

flaming  sword  confronting  him,  at  last  the  Ass 
spoke;  and  it  was  in  the  same  tight  place  that 
Croker  spoke  when,  at  last  he  was  afraid  of  him 
who  bore  the  sword  before  him,  and  you  can  tell 
who  the  young  man  is  that  bore  the  sword. " 

In  local  campaigns,  involving  the  election  of 
Mayor  and  Members  of  the  Legislature,  he  was  often 
heard  at  Cooper  Union,  and  in  other  prominent 
places  of  assemblage  but,  notwithstanding  his  power 
as  a  public  speaker,  he  was  almost  never  heard  in 
other  cities  of  the  State,  or  even  in  New  York,  upon 
State  and  National  issues.  According  to  my  ob 
servation,  although  able,  if  necessary,  to  discuss 
such  issues  seriously,  he  did  not  feel  it  his  duty  or 
pleasure  to  do  so,  and  his  mind  did  not  work  easily 
in  political  debate.  His  cast  of  intellect,  and  his 
style  of  platform  oratory,  were  of  a  kind  that  led 
him  in  a  different  direction.  For  this  reason,  he 
could  not  be  depended  upon  by  political  leaders. 
He  was,  also,  too  independent  by  nature  to  be  tram 
meled  in  his  platform  utterances,  and  although  an 
adherent  of  the  Eepublican  party,  he  was  yet  suf 
ficiently  independent  to  criticize  its  aims,  purposes 
and  leaders  when  they  did  not  meet  his  entire 
approval. 

Mr.  Choate's  admirable  qualities,  and  remark 
able  ability,  qualified  him,  undoubtedly,  for  any 
position,  National  or  State,  and  he  was  not  with 
out  ambition  for  public  office.  His  failure  to  obtain 
political  recognition,  after  Mr.  Evarts'  retirement, 


THE  NEW  YOEKEE  79 

must  probably  be  sought  in  his  general  attitude 
toward  political  parties,  and  political  managers. 

His  prominence  in  his  profession,  and  before  the 
public,  would  seem  to  have  marked  him  out  for 
political  preferment  in  State  or  National  affairs. 
Although  a  leader  of  the  Bar,  and  conspicuous  in 
public  matters,  he  never,  but  once,  put  his  personal 
popularity,  and  political  opinions,  to  the  test  of 
candidacy  for  an  elective  office.  He  shrunk  from 
the  ordeal,  not  through  apprehension  as  to  the 
result,  but  because  of  unwillingness  to  seek,  or  even 
to  hold,  public  office  trammeled  by  party  sub 
serviency.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  politicians 
he  was  not  favorably  regarded,  because  not  always 
in  sympathy  with  the  leaders  of  his  own  party,  and 
because  of  his  unwillingness  to  share  their  views, 
approve  their  methods  and  make  an  effort  to  enlist 
their  support.  Though  nominally  a  Republican,  he 
was  more  often  than  not  out  of  sympathy  with 
his  party,  especially  in  local  affairs,  and  his  inde 
pendence — a  marked  characteristic — led  him,  at 
times,  to  identify  himself  with  political  movements 
of  lofty  purpose,  but  hopeless  from  the  beginning, 
except  as  a  kind  of  protest,  against  the  action  of 
leaders  of  his  own  party.  He  was  not  acceptable 
to  politicians,  because  they  could  not  manage  him. 

In  view  of  Mr.  Choate's  ability,  high  character 
and  attractive  qualities  it  seems  scarcely  possible 
that  any  candidate  could  have  been  selected  better 
calculated  to  call  out  the  enthusiastic  admiration 
and  support  of  the  people.  But  when  the  matter 


80  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

is  analyzed,  an  explanation  is  found,  perhaps,  in 
Mr.  Choate's  own  personal  qualities  and  his  attitude 
in  public  affairs.  He  had  an  abundance  of  practical 
common  sense,  was  in  accord  with  popular  senti 
ment  and  had  broad  sympathies  with  common 
people  in  their  struggle  against  adverse  conditions. 
But,  he  was  like  a  brilliant  luminary  which  shines 
at  a  distance;  he  had  a  kind  of  reserve,  an  aristo 
cratic  conservatism,  which  seemed  to  remove  him 
from  the  ordinary  sphere  of  humanity.  He  could 
sway  a  jury,  he  could  arouse  the  enthusiasm  of 
general  audiences  and  evoke  deep  interest  and 
hearty  applause ;  but  he  was  not  one  of  the  people. 
They  admired  him  and  honored  him;  they  were 
charmed  with  his  graciousness ;  but  they  recognized 
his  reserve  and  dignity  which  prevented  familiar 
approach.  His  brilliancy,  his  humor,  his  wonderful 
persuasiveness,  his  independence  and  courage  won 
respect  and  regard,  but  he  seemed  to  live  apart 
from,  and  above,  the  human  throng  in  everyday 
life. 

It  is  quite  possible,  too,  that  there  was  a  personal 
disinclination  on  his  part  to  public  life,  which  may 
have  accounted,  to  some  extent,  for  an  absence  of 
popular  appreciation.  He  seemed  absorbed  in  his 
profession  and  the  honors  that  success  in  it  confers. 
"I  have  made  it  a  rule,"  he  said,  "never  to  seek 
office  and  never  decline  it;  but  my  friends  knew 
I  did  not  seek  office,  and  that  is  probably  why  they 
never  nominated  me."  His  failure  to  secure  polit 
ical  recognition  may  quite  likely  be  found  in  the 


THE  NEW  YOEKER  81 

character  of  his  public  utterances.  He  was  never 
afraid  to  say  what  he  really  thought,  and  what  he 
said  was  such  a  combination  of  sound  sense  and 
witty  comment  that  while  the  sound  sense  might 
not  in  itself  have  offended,  yet  when  combined  with 
his  laughter-provoking  power,  the  effect  was  to 
create  resentment  and  opposition.  Politicians  felt 
he  was  constantly  poking  fun  at  them,  and  his  ridi 
cule  was  far  more  serious  in  permanent  effect  than 
that  produced  by  sledge-hammer  argument  or  de 
nunciation. 

During  the  many  years  the  Republican  party  in 
New  York  was  under  the  control  of  Thomas  C. 
Platt,  United  States  Senator  from  New  York,  he 
found  in  Mr.  Choate  an  opponent,  but  it  was  not 
Mr.  Choate 's  opposition  that  antagonized  him,  be 
cause  he  had  the  common  sense  to  know  that  he 
must  expect  it  from  tnose  who  differed  with  him, 
and  he  recognized  the  value  in  public  affairs  of  men 
who  opposed  him ;  but  Mr.  Choate  not  only  opposed 
him,  but  made  fun  of  him,  and  the  two  together 
aroused  his  resentment.  In  one  of  our  interviews 
I  asked  him  how  it  was  that  Senator  Platt  became 
reconciled  to  his  appointment  as  Ambassador  at  the 
Court  of  St.  James. 

"Well,"  he  replied,  "only  two  were  considered  by 
the  President  for  the  position.  One  was  Whitelaw 
Reid,  and  the  other  myself,  and  Platt  supported  me 
because  he  hated  Reid  worse  than  he  did  me." 

His  speech  before  the  Friendly  Sons  of  St. 
Patrick  is  an  instance  of  alienating  by  his  wit  a 


82  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

large  and  powerful  element  among  the  common 
people.  When  he  conceived  the  idea  of  that  speech 
it  was  too  good  to  resist  expression.  He  meant  no 
offense;  he  intended  to  arouse  no  resentment  nor 
appeal  to  any  prejudice.  He  evidently  miscalcu 
lated  its  effect.  It  produced  an  almost  electric 
effect  among  Irishmen  everywhere.  The  papers 
and  periodicals  devoted  to  Ireland  and  Irishmen 
poured  forth  their  denunciation  and  wrath  in 
copious  streams  of  abuse,  and  probably  no  indi 
vidual  could  have  been  found  in  America  who  was 
more  unpopular  among  Irishmen.  The  virulent 
opposition  to  his  appointment  as  Ambassador  came 
from  the  Irish  press  and  Irishmen  generally.  If 
their  opposition  had  been  based  upon  anything 
serious  with  respect  to  Home  Eule  agitation,  it 
might  well  have  been  that  Mr.  Choate  would  not 
have  been  appointed,  but,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
founded  upon  good-natured,  mirth-provoking  wit, 
and  nothing  else,  President  McKinley  declined  to 
view  it  as  a  just  cause  of  offense  against  Ireland 
or  Irishmen. 

All  readers  of  political  history  will  remember  the 
circumstances  of  Mr.  Hill's  plot  in  1891  to  capture 
three  seats  in  the  State  Senate,  a  sufficient  number 
to  give  him  a  majority  in  that  body.  The  election 
of  1891  had  been  held,  and  the  returns  declared  that 
eighteen  Republicans  and  fourteen  Democrats  had 
been  elected  Senators.  This  result  was  because 
returns  were  falsified  in  Dutchess  County;  in 
Onondaga  County  twelve  hundred  ballots  cast  for 


THE  NEW  YORKER  83 

the  successful  Republican  candidate  for  Senator 
were  thrown  out  on  the  absurd  ground  that  they 
bore  the  wrong  indorsement;  in  another  Senate 
district  Mr.  Hill  made  preparations  to  give  cer 
tificates  of  election  to  a  Democrat  who  had  failed 
of  an  election  by  seventeen  hundred  votes,  as  his 
Republican  opponent  was  claimed  to  be  ineligible. 
Everything  pointed  to  Mr.  Hill  as  inspiring  the 
Democratic  State  Board  of  Canvassers  to  issue  cer 
tificates  of  election  to  the  Democratic  candidates 
for  Senator  in  the  three  districts  assailed. 

It  was  at  this  time,  when  the  Democratic  State 
Board  of  Canvassers  were  about  to  meet,  that  Mr. 
Choate  arrived  in  Albany.  On  the  night  of  No 
vember  30th  he  came  to  the  Capitol  and  rapidly 
gained  a  knowledge  of  the  critical  condition  of 
affairs.  Like  a  true  political  general,  he  at  once 
attacked  the  enemy.  The  following  morning  he 
went  before  Justice  Edwards  of  the  Supreme  Court 
at  Troy  and  submitted  affidavits  showing  that  the 
State  Board  of  Canvassers  was  about  to  meet,  and 
that  it  plainly  intended  to  accept  as  genuine  the 
fraudulent  election  return  from  Dutchess  County. 
He  said  to  Justice  Edwards:  "A  gross  outrage 
upon  the  suffrage  is  being  attempted,  having  as  its 
object  to  induce  the  State  Board  of  Canvassers  to 
act  upon  an  election  return  not  legally  and  properly 
made,  and  the  affidavits  show  that  this  fraudulent 
attempt  of  the  Dutchess  County  Canvassers  is  in 
danger  of  succeeding. ' '  He  informed  the  Court 
that  this  return  was  already  being  included  in  the 


84  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

State  tabulation,  and  urged  the  Court,  for  the  vin 
dication  of  justice,  to  lay  its  hands  upon  both 
boards,  and  restrain  them  from  accepting  the  cer 
tificate,  and  canvassing  the  returns,  including  this 
fraudulent  return,  as  otherwise  the  remedy  would  be 
gone.  Justice  Edwards  granted  an  order  against 
the  State  Board  of  Canvassers  to  show  cause  why  a 
peremptory  mandamus  should  not  issue  directing 
the  Board  of  State  Canvassers  not  to  canvass  the 
vote  of  Dutchess  County  on  the  basis  of  this  false 
and  illegal  certificate. 

The  legal  conflict  thus  instituted  by  Mr.  Choate 
was  extended  to  every  Senate  district,  but  it  came 
at  last  to  a  common  center  in  Albany  on  December 
7,  1891,  when  Mr.  Choate  obtained  from  Justice 
Edwards  five  writs  of  mandamus,  prohibiting  the 
State  Board  of  Canvassers  from  deciding  any  of 
the  election  cases  until  argument  upon  them  should 
be  heard  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  a  decision 
rendered. 

Mr.  Choate  had  thus  labored  to  preserve  the  Leg 
islature  to  the  Republican  party,  and  had  done  his 
utmost  to  make  fraudulent  elections  odious,  and  his 
able  management  of  the  suits  before  the  Courts  in 
1891  brought  about  a  political  revolution,  which 
overwhelmed,  and  drove  from  power,  the  men  who 
had  perpetrated  the  fraud  designed  to  steal  the 
Legislature  in  the  interest  of  the  Democratic  party. 

In  1893  when  the  Republican  State  Convention 
met  in  Syracuse,  a  forlorn  and  hopeless  gathering 
of  dispirited  partisans,  they  put  him  on  the  ticket 


THE  NEW  YORKER  85 

for  Delegate  at  Large  to  the  State  Constitutional 
Convention,  although  at  that  time  it  was  generally 
believed  that  the  Democrats  were  sure  of  success. 
His  nomination  was  regarded  as  an  empty  honor, 
and  although  he  was  elected,  yet,  with  his  inde 
pendent  views,  and  lack  of  support  his  candidacy 
received  from  political  leaders,  he  did  not  poll  as 
large  a  vote  as  some  of  the  strict  party  men  on  the 
ticket. 

The  Constitutional  Convention  was  made  up 
largely  of  lawyers,  and  furnished  an  opportunity 
to  render  conspicuous  service  to  the  State,  in 
connection  with  the  Judiciary  and  the  Courts, 
and,  to  no  small  extent,  in  the  Executive  and  Legis 
lative  Departments  of  the  State  Government.  Not 
only  is  an  election  as  delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  an  honorable  post,  which  lawyers, 
especially,  are  qualified  to  fill,  but  the  presidency 
of  that  body  is  regarded  as  an  honor  not  inferior 
to  any  State  position.  Mr.  Choate's  distinction,  and 
his  leadership  at  the  Bar,  served  quite  naturally, 
to  indicate  him  as  the  probable  choice  for  the  presi 
dency  of  the  Convention.  In  fact,  he  was  apparently 
the  only  individual  considered  by  his  own  party  for 
that  high  position,  and  his  election  was  favored  by 
a  large  number  of  the  opposing  party.  When  the 
Convention  organized  he  was  elected  president  with 
singular  unanimity,  and  devoted  himself  as 
siduously  to  the  duties  of  his  high  office  during  the 
months  the  Convention  was  in  session,  and  con 
tributed  largely  by  his  speeches,  and  his  advocacy 


86  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

on  important  subjects,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  Courts,  to  the  framing  of  the  Constitution  after 
wards  ratified  at  the  ensuing  election.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  delegates  after  his  election,  he  humorously 
referred  to  the  political  patronage  within  his  gift. 
"I  find,"  said  he,  " there  are  forty- three  places  to 
fill.  Gentlemen,  the  line  will  form  on  my  right." 

His  successful  guidance  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  in  the  conservative  construction  of  a 
new  Constitution,  and  his  efforts  to  secure  its 
adoption,  received  the  stamp  of  popular  approval. 
Whatever  acceptance  the  new  Constitution  obtained, 
when  it  was  presented  for  consideration  by  the 
people  at  the  polls,  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Choate  had  been  actively  engaged  in  the  task 
of  drafting  it.  The  high  favor  with  which  the  new 
Constitution  was  regarded,  was  evident  by  its  re 
ceiving  a  majority  of  nearly  100,000  votes. 

His  prominence  in  the  Constitutional  Convention 
led,  quite  likely,  to  his  being  considered  as  a  possible 
nominee  for  Governor.  It  was  unquestionably  the 
desire  of  the  people  of  the  State  that  he  should 
be  nominated,  and  his  nomination  was  vigorously 
advocated  in  newspapers  and  in  large  and  enthusi 
astic  assemblages.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  an 
instance  where  a  spontaneous  movement  for  the 
nomination  of  any  individual  has  been  evoked  so 
enthusiastically.  If  it  had  been  possible  to  obtain 
the  opinion  of  the  voters  of  the  State  as  to  the 
most  desirable  candidate,  the  popular  favor  mani 
fested  in  his  behalf  is  the  strongest  possible  evi- 


THE  NEW  YORKER  87 

dence  that  a  majority  of  Republicans  desired  his 
nomination;  but  the  politicians  did  not  want  him. 
They  could  not  use  him.  They  were  afraid  of  him 
and  of  his  independent  spirit. 

Senator  Thomas  C.  Platt  was  in  absolute  and 
undisputed  control  of  the  Republican  organization 
in  the  State;  he  was,  in  fact,  the  organization;  and 
the  accredited  representative  of  the  Republican 
party.  A  candidacy  was  hopeless  that  did  not  have 
his  support.  Mr.  Choate  was  not  acceptable  as  a 
candidate  to  Senator  Platt,  and  as  the  latter  was  in 
control  of  the  political  situation,  and  of  the  political 
machinery  of  the  State,  Mr.  Choate  could  not  be 
nominated. 

In  1896,  when  Senator  Platt 's  term  of  office  was 
about  to  expire,  the  question  whether  he  would  be 
permitted  to  succeed  himself  was  largely  discussed, 
but  his  strength  as  a  political  leader  was  such  that 
his  defeat  was  practically  an  impossibility ;  but  this 
did  not  prevent  his  opponents  from  contesting  his 
election.  Quite  naturally  they  looked  to  Mr.  Choate 
as  embodying  in  their  opinion  all  that  Senator  Platt 
was  not. 

On  December  24,  1896,  a  very  large  and  en 
thusiastic  meeting  was  held  in  Carnegie  Hall,  New 
York,  at  which  Mr.  Choate 's  election  as  Senator 
Platt  Js  successor  was  advocated.  The  meeting  was 
a  protest  against  Mr.  Platt,  and  his  so-called 
bossism.  The  movement  set  on  foot  spread 
throughout  the  State.  Meetings  were  held,  and 
testimonials  to  Mr.  Choate  signed  by  a  very  large 


88  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

number  of  the  most  influential  Republicans.  The 
movement  gained  such  proportions  that,  on  the 
surface  of  things,  it  looked  as  though  Mr.  Choate 
might  be  nominated.  But  little  did  his  supporters 
understand,  if  they  appreciated,  that  the  Legisla 
ture  was  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  Senator  Platt. 
Mr.  Choate,  however,  appreciated  it. 

In  alluding  to  it  Mr.  Choate  said  to  me:  "I  told 
them  I  would  run  if  I  only  got  one  vote.  In  fact, 
I  got  seven,  and  I  regarded  this  as  a  real  triumph. " 

The  politicians  forgot  his  distinguished  services, 
which  were  of  great  advantage  to  the  Republican 
party,  and  which,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
would  have  been  regarded  by  practical  politicians 
as  calling  for  recognition  by  the  bestowal  of  politi 
cal  honors.  Although,  apparently,  never  seeking 
office,  yet,  in  those  rare  instances  when  he  was 
induced  to  enter  the  service  of  the  State,  he  dis 
charged  the  duties  imposed  upon  him  with  such 
fidelity  and  ability  as  to  cause  regret  that  political 
conditions,  and  the  interest  of  party  politicians, 
should  have  prevented  his  being  called  to  high 
public  office.  Had  he  received  a  nomination  his 
personal  popularity  would  have  undoubtedly  se 
cured  him  a  very  large  vote.  It  is,  quite  likely,  the 
fact  that  Mr.  Evarts  having  entered  President 
Johnson's  Cabinet  as  Attorney  General,  and  that 
of  President  Hayes  as  Secretary  of  State,  and  sub 
sequently  his  election  as  United  States  Senator,  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  Mr.  Choate 's  re 
luctance  to  enter  on  a  political  career.  In  alluding 


THE  NEW  YORKER  89 

to  Mr.  Evarts,  Mr.  Choate  used  to  remark,  with 
grim  humor,  that  one  statesman  in  a  law  firm  was 
sufficient  for  business  purposes. 

In  social  life  he  shone  most  brilliantly,  and  was, 
of  course,  much  sought  for  at  the  dinner  tables  of 
his  professional  brethren,  and  of  fashionable  so 
ciety.  One  of  his  witty  sayings  was  at  a  private 
dinner  at  which  he  and  Mrs.  Choate  were  guests. 
He  was  asked  who  he  would  like  to  be  if  he  could 
not  be  himself.  He  paused  a  few  seconds,  as  if 
thinking  over  the  list  of  world-celebrities,  when  his 
eye  rested  upon  his  wife,  and  solved  for  him  the 
problem.  "If,"  he  answered,  "I  could  not  be  my 
self,  I  should  like  to  be  Mrs.  Choate 's  second 
husband." 

On  one  of  his  visits  to  Washington  he  was  a  guest 
of  Senator  Wolcott,  of  Colorado,  as  was  also  the 
late  Thomas  B.  Reed,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  The  conversation  turned  upon  what 
some  would  consider  vices,  and  other  frailties,  of 
mankind,  and  Mr.  'Choate  remarked,  "I  have  never 
smoked  a  cigar,  never  played  a  game  of  poker,  and 
never  attended  a  horse  race  in  my  life."  Senator 
Wolcott  looked  pathetically  at  Speaker  Reed  and 
said,  "I  wish  I  could  say  that."  Mr.  Reed's  char 
acteristic  and  witty  response  was:  "You  can, 
Choate  did." 

A  story  is  told  of  Mr.  Choate  when,  a  passenger 
on  one  of  the  Sound  steamers  on  his  way  to  New 
port.  He  was,  of  course,  not  ostentatiously  attired, 
but  wore  a  silk  hat  and  carried  over  his  arm  a  light 


90  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

overcoat,  and  in  his  hand  a  small  dressing  case.  As 
he  stood  on  the  deck  he  was  approached  by  a  person, 
somewhat  loud  of  raiment,  who  inquired: 

" Where  are  you  going  to  open,  Colonel?" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  returned  Mr.  Choate. 

"I  mean  what  I  say,"  replied  the  other.  "Where 
are  you  going  to  set  up  the  layout,  at  the  port  or 
at  the  pier?" 

"Whom  do  you  take  me  to  be?"  pursued  Mr. 
Choate. 

"I  do  not  know  who  you  are,  but  I  could  make  a 
good  stiff  guess  at  your  game.  I  did  call  it  faro 
for  favorite,  but  may  be  it  is  a  sweat  cloth  for 
second  choice." 

Mr.  Choate  put  his  case  on  a  convenient  desk 
chair  and  opened  it.  He  displayed  a  toilet  outfit, 
brush,  razors,  combs  and  other  necessaries  of  life. 
The  man  with  the  loud  suit  looked  at  it  with  lofty 
disregard. 

"I  mistook  you  for  a  sport,"  he  said,  as  he 
turned  away.  "If  I  had  known  you  was  a  barber 
I  never  would  have  spoken  to  you.  It  is  one  on  me." 

During  Mr.  Choate 's  journeys  to  and  from  his 
office,  ofttimes  burdened  with  the  weight  of  heavy 
responsibilities,  or  fatigued  by  arduous  days  in 
Court,  he  traveled  by  the  elevated  road,  and  usually 
selected  a  seat  which  exposed  only  one  side  of  him 
to  admiring  acquaintances  who,  quite  naturally,  but 
without  much  consideration  for  him,  would  seek  him 
out.  One  of  these  found  him  seated  in  a  corner  of 
one  of  the  trains  and  asked  him  why  it  was  he  se- 


THE  NEW  YORKER  91 

lected  such  a  place.  "I  replied/'  said  he,  "that  I 
always,  took  one  of  two  seats,  either  the  one  in  the 
corner,  or  else  the  one  next  to  the  window  on  the 
transverse  seats,  and  I  do  this  so  that  I  can  only 
be  bored  on  one  side  at  a  time." 

His  comments  on  men  and  things  as  he  chanced 
to  see  them  were  a  constant  source  of  amusement  to 
his  office  associates.  Returning  from  lunch  one  day, 
having  seen  a  prominent  member  of  the  New  York 
Bar  standing  on  the  steps  of  a  building  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  he  remarked:  "I  saw  a  queer 

thing  just  now.  It  was  Mr. standing  on 

the  steps  of  the  Corn  Exchange  Bank  with  his  hands 
in  his  own  pockets/' 

It  was  a  courageous  individual,  indeed,  who 
would  make  fun  of  Mr.  Choate  for  it  was  almost 
inevitable  that  the  fun  made  of  him  would  fall 
perfectly  flat  in  comparison  with  the  fun  made  by 
him. 

Mr.  Depew  was  sometimes  bold  enough  to  attempt 
to  make  fun  of  Mr.  Choate,  but  the  latter  was 
always  prepared  for  him.  Anticipating  that  at  a 
dinner  which  Mr.  Depew  was  to  attend  he  might 
indulge  in  some  of  this  fun  making,  Mr.  Choate 
secured  a  copy  of  a  prospectus  of  a  natural  gas 
company  which  was  called  "The  Depew  Natural 
Gas  Company,  Limited."  As  anticipated,  the  fun 
making  began,  but  when  Mr.  Choate 's  turn  came  he 
drew  from  his  pocket  the  prospectus  and  read  its 
title,  "The  Depew  Natural  Gas  Company,  Limited," 
and,  looking  the  company  over,  he  glanced  at  Mr. 


92  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Depew  quizzically  and,  after  a  pause,  inquired  with 
emphasis,  "Why  limited?" 

The  tact  he  displayed  in  dealing  with  difficult, 
because  embarrassing,  situations,  was  not,  by  any 
means,  the  least  characteristic  of  his  genius — a 
notable  instance  being  the  Commencement  Dinner 
at  Harvard,  which  Governor  Butler  attended  as  the 
representative  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachu 
setts,  when  Senator  Hoar,  as  President  of  the 
Alumni,  refused  to  preside,  because  of  Governor 
Butler's  presence.  Mr.  Choate  took  Senator  Hoar's 
place  and,  with  President  Eliot  on  his  right,  and 
Governor  Butler  on  his  left,  began  with  a  delight 
fully  humorous  allusion  to  the  complications  exist 
ing  by  saying : 

"I  hardly  know  how  to  begin.  My  head  swims 
when  I  look  down  from  the  giddy,  and  somewhat 
dangerous,  elevation  to  which  you  have  unwittingly 
raised  me.  Here  I  have  been  seated,  for  the  last 
hour,  between  the  two  horns  of  a  veritable  di 
lemma.  "  This  tactful  and  witty  seizure  of  "the 
bull  by  the  horns"  not  only  relieved  the  occasion  of 
embarrassment,  but,  it  is  said,  Governor  Butler,  in 
response  to  a  toast  in  his  honor,  delivered  a  speech 
entirely  different  from  what  he  intended,  and  as  full 
as  it  was  possible  for  him  to  make  it  of  the  milk  of 
human  kindness. 

Thus,  by  cheerful  and  humorous  pointedness,  Mr. 
Choate  dispelled  unfriendliness,  disarmed  an 
tagonism,  cleared  away  the  embarrassment  of  the 
occasion,  and  out  of  discord  brought  harmony. 


THE  NEW  YOKKER  93 

In  the  breadth  of  his  interests;  his  success  on 
public  and  semi-public  occasions;  his  career  as  a 
lawyer;  his  distinction  and  popularity  as  Am 
bassador  at  the  Court  of  St.  James;  his  literary 
addresses  in  this  country  and  in  England;  the 
appreciation  of  his  worth,  the  tokens  of  good-will, 
the  honorable  recognition  he  received  from  the 
English  Bar — notably  his  election  as  a  Bencher  of 
the  Middle  Temple — justified  the  claim  that  he 
exhibited  many  attributes  of  true  genius.  If  to  be 
"always  equal  to  the  occasion"  is  evidence  of 
genius,  it  was  not  wanting  in  his  case,  for  whenever 
called  upon  to  bear  a  part  in  public,  professional  or 
social  life,  the  ease  and  charm  with  which,  in  his 
natural  and  simple  way,  he  discharged  the  duty  as 
signed  him,  was  wonderful  to  behold.  Genius  was 
manifested  in  conveying  his  most  important  mes 
sages  in  such  exceedingly  plain  and  homely  words 
that  they  were  easily  comprehended  by  ordinary  in 
tellects,  and  were,  at  the  same  time,  so  original  in 
thought  and  expression,  that  they  created  a  pro 
found  impression  upon  able  minds. 

When  Mr.  Choate  returned  to  resume  his  place 
in  New  York  at  the  conclusion  of  his  distin 
guished  service  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  he  had 
been  separated  for  six  years  from  the  activities 
of  his  profession,  and  from  all  that  pertained  to  life 
at  home.  He  was  then  seventy-three  years  of  age 
and  might,  quite  naturally,  have  been  expected  to 
seek  that  dignified  retirement  he  had  so  richly 
earned.  But  nothing  was  further  from  his 


94  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

thoughts.  His  whole  nature  seemed  to  rebel  against 
the  state  of  the  "lean  and  slippered  pantaloon." 
He  engaged  to  some  extent  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  in  its  higher  departments,  and  won 
notable  triumphs.  The  demands  upon  him  for  all 
sorts  of  public  occasions  were  incessant;  wherever 
there  was  a  worthy  cause  to  advocate,  a  philan 
thropy  to  support,  a  festivity  to  enliven,  he  was 
sought  out  as  the  shining  ornament  of  the  occasion. 
And  he  gave  freely  of  his  best.  He  entered  upon  a 
new  phase  of  his  career,  and  until  his  death  was 
pre-eminently  the  conspicuous  figure  in  the  public 
life  of  New  York.  He  was  a  remarkable  example  of 
an  old  age  filled  with  living  interest,  and  unquench 
able  zeal,  in  all  that  pertained  to  worthy  causes. 
Hence,  the  latest  years  were  among  the  most  useful 
of  his  life.  Free  from  the  cares  of  an  exacting  pro 
fession,  he  could  devote  his  time  and,  better  still, 
his  wisdom  and  experience,  to  whatever  might  con 
duce  to  the  welfare  of  his  fellowmen,  not  merely  as 
a  philanthropist  but  as  "a  citizen  of  no  mean  city." 
In  fact,  he  was  often  alluded  to  as  "our  first  citi 
zen."  But  this  aroused  his  wit  at  a  Commencement 
luncheon  at  Columbia  University  in  June,  1916. 
When  referred  to  as  such  it  called  forth  this  humor 
ous  response:  "Your  President,  accidentally,  I 
think,  dropped,  at  the  end  of  his  address  to  me, 
two  words  that  I  didn't  at  first  understand.  He 
said  something  about  *A  first  citizen. '  He  must 
have  spoken  in  a  Shakesperean  sense,  for  you  know 
this  is  a  Shakesperean  year,  the  three  hundredth 


THE  NEW  YORKER  95 

anniversary,  I  believe,  of  Shakespeare's  death,  and 
President  Butler  is  a  wonderful  Shakesperean 
scholar,  and  he  was  thinking  of  Shakespeare  at  that 
moment.  You  remember  that  in  many  of  the  plays 
of  Shakespeare  citizens  are  introduced  as  a  decora 
tion,  or  fringe,  to  embellish  the  stage,  and  they  are 
numbered  First  Citizen,  Second  Citizen,  Third  Citi 
zen,  and,  in  every  case,  neither  of  them  has  much 
to  say,  and  doesn't  say  that  very  well,  but  they  were 
all  equally  good,  one  as  good  as  another,  and  they 
might  just  as  well  have  exchanged  numbers,  and 
nobody  would  have  known  the  differ ence."  When 
he  concluded  the  chairman  said,  "Mr.  Choate,  we 
thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  our  heart,  we  will 
take  you  to  our  bosom,  and  will  hold  you  there 
during  the  rest  of  our  lives. "  To  which,  Mr. 
Choate,  looking  at  the  graduates  of  Barnard  Col 
lege,  wittily  remarked:  "I  hope  the  graduates  of 
Barnard  College  will  join  you  in  that."  But,  on 
the  whole,  this  new  phase  of  his  career  was  char 
acterized,  I  think,  by  a  somewhat  more  subdued  and 
serious  tone  than  that  of  earlier  days.  There  was 
brilliancy,  of  course,  and  a  genial  play  of  wit  and 
humor,  but  there  was  less  exuberance  of  his  fun- 
making  power  than  formerly.  He  had,  I  think,  come 
to  regard  his  wit  as,  in  a  sense,  a  misfortune,  be 
cause  whenever  he  spoke  his  audience  expected  a 
laugh.  Indeed,  he  said  as  much,  regretting  that  he 
had  allowed  himself  to  indulge  his  wit,  because  it 
interfered  with  seriousness  when  he  meant  to  be 
serious.  None  of  his  addresses,  with  a  few  excep- 


96  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

tions,  during  his  last  twelve  years  were  as  formal 
as  those  in  his  two  volumes  of  addresses.  Most  of 
them  were  informal,  but  were  characterized  by 
greater  seriousness  and  dignity  than  those  of 
earlier  years.  Nor  could  they  well  have  been  other 
wise,  for  they  were  connected  with  philanthropies, 
and  important  public  questions,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  while  during  the  last  three  years  they  re 
lated,  more  particularly,  to  various  conditions 
arising  out  of  the  war. 

The  scope  of  his  activities  will  furnish  an  indi 
cation  of  the  directions  in  which  he  bestowed  his 
gift  of  eloquence  as  well  as  of  personal  advice.  I 
have  already  referred  to  his  interest  in  the  cause  of 
the  blind,  and  he  seemed  never  weary  of  acting  as 
their  advocate,  whenever  opportunity  presented  it 
self.  It  appeared  to  be  a  favorite  philanthropy  of 
his,  and  he  ably  and  efficiently  supported  Miss 
Winifred  Holt  in  her  zealous  efforts  in  their  behalf. 
There  were  also  associations  connected  with  his 
profession  in  which  he  had  borne  a  conspicuous 
part,  such  as  the  New  York  Bar  Association,  the 
New  York  State  Bar  Association,  the  American  Bar 
Association,  the  New  York  County  Lawyers '  Asso 
ciation,  of  all  of  which  he  had  been  President;  the 
New  England  Society,  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  the  State  Charities  Aid  Associa 
tion,  of  which  he  was  President  for  many  years, 
and  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  which  he 
helped  organize,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  Century 
Association,  which  honored  him,  upon  the  death  of 


THE  NEW  YORKER  97 

Hon.  John  Bigelow,  with  election  to  its  presidency, 
much  to  his  gratification,  in  which  position  he  was 
serving  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Century  since  1858,  having  been 
elected  to  membership  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
six.  Within  its  precincts  he  had  found  his  most 
delightful  companionship,  entering  into  its  festivi 
ties  with  zeal,  and  contributing,  in  informal 
addresses,  filled  with  characteristic  wit,  to  the 
pleasure  of  its  members.  Notwithstanding  his  ad 
vanced  years,  he  attended,  with  remarkable  regu 
larity,  its  monthly  meetings,  greatly  to  their  enliven- 
ment.  One  of  his  most  recent  addresses  was  de 
livered  at  one  of  these  monthly  meetings,  of 
which  unfortunately  no  record  was  made,  giving 
reminiscences  of  life  at  the  Century  in  former 
days.  I  heard  him  once  put  the  matter  of  ad 
journment  in  a  droll  way.  Rising  with  dignity,  as 
if  to  call  for  a  motion  to  adjourn,  he  exclaimed, 
"All  those  in  favor  of  adjourning  will  now 
adjourn." 

It  so  happened  that  at  the  Twelfth  Night  Revel, 
at  the  Century,  in  1898,  having  just  been  appointed 
Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  he  of 
ficiated  on  that  occasion  as  the  King  of  the  Revel. 
He  was  seated  upon  a  dais  with  his  jesters  on  either 
hand,  who  were  Judge  Howland  and  his  partner, 
Mr.  Charles  C.  Beaman.  He  was  clothed  in  the 
robes  of  a  King,  and  his  fellow  members  appeared 
in  fancy-dress  costumes  of  various  descriptions, 
from  that  of  the  dignified  Cardinal  down  to  the 


98  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

ballet  dancer,  while  knights,  courtiers  and  all  sorts 
of  characters,  grave  and  gay,  were  in  the  throng. 
All  were  expected  to  present  themselves,  and  make 
obeisance,  to  the  King.  With  no  idea  of  assuming 
a  character  having  relation  to  his  recent  appoint 
ment,  I  had  arranged  with  a  fellow  member  to  join 
him  in  appearing  there,  he  as  Brother  Jonathan, 
and  I  as  John  Bull.  Each  of  us  had  very  char 
acteristic  costumes.  As  we  were  proceeding  toward 
the  King,  some  distance  away,  my  costume  caught 
the  King's  eye,  and,  with  a  welcoming  smile,  he 
rose  from  his  throne,  and  with  outstretched  hands 
approached  me  with  the  salutation,  "  Welcome,  John 
Bull." 

No  better  evidence  could  be  presented  of  the 
respect  and  honor  in  which  he  was  held  in  his 
capacity  as  a  diplomat,  worthy  to  represent  his 
Government  in  affairs  of  the  utmost  importance, 
than  his  selection  by  our  Government  as  the  head 
of  the  delegation  from  the  United  States  to  the 
Peace  Conference  at  The  Hague  in  1907.  In  that 
capacity  his  personal  fame  and  commanding  ability 
marked  him  out  as  a  prominent  figure  in  the  Confer 
ence,  and  his  addresses  were  regarded  as  among  the 
most  powerful  delivered.  He  attracted  much  at 
tention,  and  among  the  descriptions  given  of  him 
in  the  foreign  press  he  enjoyed,  more  than  any 
other,  that  of  Compte  de  Saint  Maurice,  the  political 
editor  of  Gil  Bias,  who  said  of  him:  "He  is  the 
enfant  terrible  of  the  Conference.  He  seems  aware, 
neither  of  the  grandeur  of  the  mission  intrusted  to 


Judge  Howland 


Mr.  Choate 

THE  KING  AND  His  JESTERS 


Mr.  Boa m a n 


THE  NEW  YORKER  99 

the  delegates,  nor  of  the  personal  majesty  of  their 
excellencies.  He  is  barely  a  diplomat.  He  it  is  who, 
with  an  air  of  innocence,  inserts  into  a  discussion 
a  few  cold  words  which  effectively  shatter  the 
grandiloquent  bubbles  of  his  colleagues.  He  it  is 
who  unsmilingly  emphasizes  some  imposing  pueril 
ity.  It  is  he,  always  he,  whose  brief  logic  brings 
back  to  earth  again  discussions  which  have  drifted 
into  the  pacific  ether.  What  superb  balloons  he  has 
thus  pricked.  WTiat  pretentious  aeronauts  has  he 
brought  to  earthly  realities." 

But  another  event  which  to  him  was  of  supreme 
interest  was  the  celebration  in  October,  1911,  of  the 
golden  wedding  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Choate  at  "Naum- 
keag,"  their  home  in  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts, 
surrounded  by  more  than  a  thousand  friends,  some 
of  them  from  far  distant  places,  a  few  of  whom  had 
attended  the  wedding  fifty  years  before.  It  is  said 
that  his  address  on  that  occasion  was  of  the  most 
piquant  and  playful  description.  He  gave  an  ac 
count  of  his  meeting  with  Mrs.  Choate  which  came 
about  through  the  invitation  of  a  friend  to  visit  a 
young  lady  in  Amenia,  New  York,  for  whom  the 
friend  professed  a  somewhat  more  than  kindly 
regard.  Mr.  Choate  went  and  was  evidently  con 
quered,  for  on  his  return  to  New  York  he  concluded 
that  his  next  visit  would  be  for  himself,  and  not  for 
his  friend.  Therefore,  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1861, 
he  declined  the  invitation  of  other  friends  to  visit 
them  on  that  day,  because  he  had  decided,  notwith 
standing  Independence  Day,  to  surrender  absolutely 


100  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

and  unqualifiedly.  He  made  a  speech,  the  most  diffi 
cult,  he  said,  in  his  life,  notwithstanding  its  brevity, 
offering  to  surrender  the  citadel  of  his  affections 
and,  said  he,  "on  that  Independence  Day,  I  sur 
rendered  my  independence." 

During  the  last  three  years  of  his  life  his  mind 
was  almost  completely  absorbed  in  the  war.  He 
found  little  room  for  anything  else.  It  called  out 
his  patriotic  impulses,  in  which  there  was  none  of 
the  conservatism  or  timidity  of  old  age ;  he  was  full 
of  youthful  ardor.  From  the  day  Belgium  was  in 
vaded,  he  was  outspoken  in  denunciation  of  that 
atrocity;  he  declined  to  be  neutral;  he  proclaimed 
himself  as  heart  and  soul  with  the  Allies;  he  was 
in  favor  of  prompt  preparation  and  immediate  ac 
tion.  From  that  time  on,  his  voice  was  heard,  loud 
and  strong,  everywhere  and  on  all  occasions,  in 
favor  of  giving  all  possible  aid  to  the  Allies.  He 
believed  that,  sooner  or  later,  this  country  would 
be  drawn  into  the  war.  He  advocated  as  forcibly 
and  energetically  as  possible  the  duty  of  this  coun 
try  to  prepare  for  the  struggle.  He  rebuked  supine- 
ness  and  delay,  insistently  urging  that  we  go 
forward.  In  a  stirring  address  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Union  League  Club,  he  expressed  himself  with  re 
markable  energy.  He  said  in  part : 

"I  never  agree  to  speak  in  public  that  I  am  not 
always  very  sorry  that  I  promised  to  do  so.  But 
I  could  not  resist  this  appeal,  for  it  seems  to  me 
to  be  an  appeal  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  our  country 


THE  NEW  YOEKEB  101 

in  the  hour  of  her  deadliest  peril.  If  the  words  that 
I  shall  utter  to  you  to-night  shall  be  my  last  I  shall 
feel  that  I  have  breathed  them  in  the  actual  service 
of  my  country. 

"Few  of  us  are  old  enough  to  remember  the 
foundation  of  the  Union  League  Club  in  which  we 
are  now  assembled.  I  can  recall  its  earliest  days, 
and  I  know  that  it  was  established  at  a  time  not 
unlike  this,  and  accomplished  a  mighty  purpose  in 
carrying  out  the  wishes  of  its  founders.  Why,  New 
York  was  not  an  American  city;  it  was  a  foreign 
city.  It  was  a  Copperhead  city.  Copperheads 
sprang  up  everywhere,  and  their  sentiments 
mightily  prevailed. 

"When  a  few  public-spirited  and  able  citizens 
gathered  together  to  see  what  could  be  done  in  the 
way  of  reforming  the  city  and  of  coming,  in  their 
turn,  to  the  rescue  of  their  country,  it  was  the 
darkest  period  of  our  Civil  War.  Defeat  had  fol 
lowed  defeat,  and  it  was  only  hope  that  maintained 
the  courage  of  our  citizens  and  of  our  great  Presi 
dent  at  Washington.  I  am  often  asked  to-day, 
What  can  we  do;  what  can  we  mere  citizens  do, 
when  our  Government  is  doing  nothing  or  doing  so 
little;  what  can  we  do  for  our  country?  Let  me 
tell  you  what  they  did.  They  did  what  the  last 
sentence  of  the  report  read  by  Mr.  Bacon  said — 'It 
is  arousing  a  national  spirit  in  our  citizens  which 
shall  inspire  them  to  pledge  themselves  whole 
heartedly  to  the  task  of  getting  ready  that  the 
Union  League  can  render  to  the  country  service  as 


102  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

useful  and  effective  as  it  rendered  during  the  Civil 
War.' 

"By  the  founding  of  this  club,  and  the  appeals 
of  its  members  in  public  and  in  private,  the  whole 
sentiment  of  the  city  was  changed,  or  rather,  the 
loyal  sentiment  overrode  and  suppressed  the  dis 
loyal  sentiment  that  had  previously  prevailed.  They 
raised  and  equipped  two  regiments  for  the  service 
of  their  country,  which  immediately  entered  into 
that  service.  And  when  I  look  on  these  walls  and 
see  their  portraits,  Captain  Charles  Marshall  and 
Jackson  S.  Schultz  and  John  Jay,  I  wish  they  were 
here  to-night  to  inspire  this  city  as  they  roused  the 
city  in  those  days. 

"Now,  whatever  the  Government  does,  we  can  at 
least  do  that.  I  understand  from  the  resolutions 
that  we  are  already  engaged  in  a  state  of  war.  I 
don't  care  whether  you  call  it  war,  or,  as  Lord 
Salisbury  once  called  it,  'A  sort  of  a  war,'  or  a 
state  of  war,  or  armed  neutrality.  When  it  takes 
the  shape  of  allowing  Germany  to  sink  our  ships 
and  murder  our  citizens,  it  does  not  matter  what 
you  call  it,  it  is  time  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  rise  in  arms  and  assert  their  rights. 

"This  city  is  not  half  awake  to  the  perils  that 
encompass  it.  Go  up  and  down  the  streets  and 
avenues  of  this  city,  and  by  day  and  night  you  will 
see  people  devoted  to  pleasure,  to  their  ordinary 
pursuits,  to  enjoyment  and  luxury  without  limit. 
They  have  got  to  find  out  what  is  the  matter.  They 
have  got  to  learn  that  we  are  in  a  moment  of  deadly 


THE  NEW  YORKER  103 

peril,  that  we  are,  as  the  President  said  two  months 
ago,  'On  the  brink  of  war.'  Well,  we  can't  stay  on 
the  brink  forever — we  have  tumbled  in,  that  is  what 
has  happened,  we  have  fallen  in.  The  President 
may  still  be  on  the  brink,  but  the  rest  of  the  people 
are  not. 

"I  was  talking  the  other  day  with  a  very  dis 
tinguished  Frenchman.  He  recognized,  and  nobody 
can  deny  it,  the  lack  of  preparation  in  which  we 
find  ourselves — unpreparedness,  to  use  a  very  long 
word.  'But,'  said  he,  'if  a  single  brigade,  a  single 
division,  of  American  troops  appeared  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water,  and  took  their  stand  by  the  side 
of  the  French  Army  or  the  British  Army,  it  would 
infuse  such  new  life  into  all  the  combatants  on  the 
side  of  the  Allies  that  victory  would  be  immediately 
assured.'  That  was  the  great  leader  of  thought  and 
philosophy  for  all  Europe,  and  America,  too — I 
refer  to  Professor  Henri  Bergson. 

"Now,  I  want  to  say  a  few  words  about  this  war 
that  are  not  in  the  resolutions.  If  we  are  going  into 
war,  if  we  are  in  war  now,  I  do  not  want  it  to  be 
limited  to  a  few  submarines,  and  here  and  there  a 
ship  sunk.  I  want  it  to  be  spread  over  a  much 
broader  and  wider  ground,  and  to  grow  upon  deeper 
and  grander  principles  than  even  the  defense  of  our 
own  property. 

"This  war  has  been  from  the  beginning  a  contest 
for  freedom,  for  justice,  for  civilization,  in  which 
we  are  as  much  interested  as  the  Allies  themselves. 
I  recognized  the  fact  from  the  beginning  that  they 


104  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

were  fighting  our  battle;  while  we  lingered  on  in 
this  state  of  stupid  unpreparedness  they  were  ac 
tually  sacrificing  all  their  resources,  all  for  the 
principle  of  maintaining  the  right  of  each  Govern 
ment  to  maintain  its  own  independence.  So  I  have 
always  thought  that  if  the  time  came  when,  by  going 
into  the  war  bang  up,  with  all  our  might,  we  could 
put  an  end  to  it  in  the  right  way,  in  the  triumph 
of  the  Allies,  it  was  the  duty  of  this  country  to  do 
it.  And  I  believe  that  the  time  has  now  come  when 
by  going  in,  even  with  the  little  preparation  that  we 
have  yet  made,  we  can  pass  such  a  balance  in  favor 
of  the  Allies  that,  very  speedily,  a  final  victory  is 
assured. 

"We  can  certainly  help  them  a  great  deal.  They 
won't  expect  armies  to  march  over  there.  But  I  hope 
that  a  brigade,  that  a  division  will  go,  and  I  guess 
it  will.  And  we  can  help  them  in  what  they  sorely 
need.  We  can  help  them  to  finance  the  conclusion 
of  this  war;  and  I  shall  be  ashamed  of  America,  of 
its  bankers  and  manufacturers  and  merchants  and 
lawyers  and  doctors  and  ministers  if  they  don't  all 
rally  to  that  proposition. 

"We  think  we  have  done  a  great  deal  already. 
We  have.  We  have  sold  them  a  great  many  goods 
at  excellent  prices.  We  have  loaned  them  a  great 
deal  of  money  at  a  considerable  rate  of  interest ;  but 
I  say  that  every  American,  and  all  America,  could 
afford  to  spend  the  entire  income  of  one  entire 
year  to  bring  this  war  to  the  end  that  it  ought  to 
come  to." 


THE  NEW  YORKER  105 

He  grew  restive  and  impatient  under  the  deliber- 
ateness  and  seeming  delay  of  the  Administration. 
He  at  times  indulged  in  rather  severe  criticism  of 
the  hesitation  to  act,  but  he  was  by  no  means  a 
pessimist.  He  was  always  patriotic  and,  although 
his  opinion  in  favor  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of 
the  war  led  him  to  be  somewhat  critical,  he  was 
always  an  optimist,  and  not  only  supported  the 
Administration  heartily,  but  generously  acknowl 
edged  his  mistaken  criticism  in  the  light  of  subse 
quent  events.  For  instance,  in  a  speech  referring 
to  the  course  of  the  Administration  in  Mexican 
affairs,  he  said: 

"Well,  what  is  the  most  stirring  question  to-day 
that  agitates  the  hearts  of  the  American  people? 
Its  name  has  been  mentioned  several  times,  but  it 
really  is  Mexico.  What  are  we  going  to  do  with 
Mexico,  or  what  is  Mexico  going  to  do  with  us?  I 
should  like  very  much  to  discuss  the  question  of 
the  policy  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  regard 
to  Mexico.  I  think  I  could  occupy  the  whole  evening 
with  that,  if  I  only  knew  what  that  policy  was. 
[Laughter.]  At  best,  there  is  only  one  man  who 
knows  what  that  policy  is,  and  he  very  wisely  keeps 
his  own  counsel  and  won't  tell.  And  I  am  not  sure 
that  even  he  knows.  [Renewed  laughter.]  I  am 
not  sure  that  we  are  not  all  drifting,  with  him  at 
our  head,  from  day  to  day,  and  even  from  hour  to 
hour,  waiting,  waiting,  like  Micawber,  to  see  what 
may  turn  up, 


106  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"It  is  a  very  trying  situation;  it  is  a  very  danger 
ous  situation;  but  one  thing  I  know,  and  for  one 
thing  I  appeal  to  the  heart  and  head  of  every 
gentleman  present  in  this  chamber  to-night,  that  in 
this  trying  situation  there  is  but  one  duty  for  all 
of  us,  and  that  is  to  stand  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  [Applause.] 

"You  may  call  it  diplomatic  business;  you  may 
call  it  Executive  business,  but  it  is  fair  to  assume 
that  the  President  is  in  possession  of  information 
vastly  superior  to  that  which  even  all  of  the 
members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State 
possess.  He  knows  what  he  is  talking  about.  He 
knows  what  he  is  aiming  at.  One  thing  we  are  sure 
of,  that  he  is  for  peace;  that  he  is  for  preserving 
peace  at  all  hazards,  and  that  by  no  act  of  his 
shall  this  nation  be  plunged  into  a  destructive  and 
a  dreadful  war.  [Applause.]  He  is  entitled  to  that 
from  us  without  regard  to  creeds.  We  must  stand 
by  our  President  through  thick  and  through  thin, 
and  we  shall  come  out  right  in  the  end. ' ' 

At  the  annual  luncheon  of  the  members  of  the 
Associated  Press  on  April  24,  1917,  his  address  on 
that  occasion  affords  an  excellent  illustration  of 
his  warlike  spirit,  and  of  his  magnanimity  in  ac 
knowledging  unjust  criticism.  He  began  by  saying 
that  he  was  afraid,  for  a  long  time,  that  we  should 
not  get  into  the  war  at  all,  because  he  believed  from 
the  day  of  the  entrance  of  the  Germans  into  Bel 
gium,  and  their  trampling  upon  all  human  rights, 


THE  NEW  YORKER  107 

their  breaking  of  treaties  and  of  pledges,  that  we 
ought  to  have  gone  in  then,  and  continued  as 
follows : 

"But  there  was  something  higher  and  grander, 
it  seems,  that  we  were  waiting  for,  and  it  has 
come  at  last.  I  believe  that  the  spirit  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln  has  led  us  into  this  war.  [Applause.] 

"I  have  tried  to  find  a  key  and  a  solution  of  it, 
and  I  find  it  all  in  that  two-minute  address  that 
Lincoln  delivered  at  Gettysburg  which  is  now  to 
be  applied  and  is  to  have  a  world-wide  application, 
instead  of  to  our  own  nation,  as  he  used  them. 
You  remember  what  he  said :  *  The  world  will  little 
note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can 
never  forget  what  we  do  here.'  How  unconscious 
he  was  of  his  own  immortality ! 

"And  then  he  went  on  to  express  the  hope  that 
out  of  the  blood  of  those  who  had  given  their  lives 
for  their  country  this  nation  should  have  a  new 
birth  of  freedom.  And  it  got  it. 

"When  slavery  disappeared  and  the  new  birth 
of  freedom  came,  the  United  States  entered  upon 
a  career  of  prosperity  and  nobility  such  as  it  had 
never  dreamed  of  before.  And  then  he  concluded 
with  those  words  which  your  President  has  already 
quoted  and  which  every  speaker  everywhere  during 
this  war,  I  believe,  will  quote.  You  remember  them 
all — that  t  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth.' 

"Now  what  do  we  have?    If  Lincoln  were  here 


108  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

to-day,  his  prayer  would  be  verified  and  glorified 
into  the  prayer  that  all  civilized  nations  shall  now 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people 
shall  not  perish  from  any  portion  of  the  earth. 

"I  think  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  what 
this  war  is.  It  is  a  war  for  the  preservation  of  free 
government  throughout  the  civilized  world.  And 
I  believe  that  I  may  include  in  that  not  only  free 
governments  of  the  allied  nations  and  the  neutral 
nations,  but  of  Germany  itself. 

"The  truth  is  that  this  war  upon  which  we  have 
entered  is  not  going  to  be  any  child's  play.  We 
all  know  that.  The  only  way  to  fight  is  to  fight, 
and  we  have  not  begun  that  yet.  One  thing  we  have 
already  done,  and  it  shows  that  our  entrance  into 
this  war  has  united  the  whole  American  people. 
This  great  money  bill  that  was  passed,  very  largely 
for  the  benefit  of  our  Allies,  by  unanimous  vote, 
as  I  understand  it,  of  both  houses  of  Congress, 
shows  that  all  the  people  of  America  are  of  one 
mind  and  are  agreed  that  there  is  to  be  no  back 
sliding,  no  hiding  behind  any  cover,  but  that  we 
are  prepared  and  determined  to  face  the  music  and 
to  make  whatever  sacrifices  may  be  necessary  to 
secure  that  lasting  victory  that  alone  can  make 
certain  an  enduring  peace. 

"Then  there  are  all  those  other  bills  which  the 
Government  has  presented,  as  I  think  so  wisely,  and 
with  such  forethought,  that  last  one  of  which  is 
under  discussion  to-day,  and  which  we  are  assured 


THE  NEW  YORKER  109 

will  pass  by  the  vote  of  both  houses  of  Congress 
on  Friday,  for  universal  enrollment  of  all  men 
capable  of  bearing  arms.  I  do  not  call  it  a  con 
scription  bill.  I  think  that  name  has  been  un 
happily  applied.  The  Government  ought  to  know 
where  the  men  are  who  are  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  what  their  ages  are,  and  what  their  addresses 
are;  and  the  President  ought  to  know  when  the 
time  comes — and  we  can  trust  him  for  that — what 
men  are  fit  to  go  to  the  front. 

"We  are  very  much  honored  by  the  presence  in 
this  country  of  these  two  wonderful  commissions 
from  these  two  great  countries.  The  presence  of 
Mr.  Balfour  here  alone  is  a  wonderful  demonstra 
tion  of  the  good-will  of  Great  Britain  toward  us. 
And  then  there  are  Viviani  and  Joffire,  two  of 
France's  greatest  men.  I  noticed  that  when  the 
flashlight  was  cast  upon  the  tricolor  there  was 
more  enthusiasm  and  ardent  applause  among  you 
than  at  any  other  demonstration  that  has  been  made 
here  this  afternoon.  But  suppose  they  could  appear 
in  New  York  and  receive  the  greetings  of  the  people 
of  this  great  city — what  a  thunder  of  applause 
would  roll  across  the  ocean,  reporting  to  their 
countrymen  abroad  how  enthusiastically  they  were 
received  here  by  us. 

"Now  before  I  sit  down  let  me  say  a  word  about 
our  great  President,  for  he  is  entitled  at  every  step 
to  the  applause  and  support  of  every  American 
citizen,  man,  woman  and  child,  and  I  believe  he 
has  it.  [Loud  applause.] 


110  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"Some  of  us  in  the  past  have  criticized  the  Presi 
dent.  Some  of  us  long  hesitated  and  doubted ;  some 
of  us  thought  that  watchful  waiting  would  never 
cease.  But  now  we  see  what  the  President  was 
waiting  for." 

A  notable  event  in  his  life,  and  the  one  which 
proved  to  be  responsible  for  his  death,  was  that 
which  began  with  his  appointment  by  the  Mayor  as 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Citizens  to  receive 
the  French  and  British  Commissioners,  on  their 
visit  to  the  United  States.  The  duties  which  de 
volved  upon  him  in  that  position  proved  too  great 
a  strain  upon  his  vitality.  His  appointment,  by 
the  Mayor,  was  a  recognition  of  the  public  estima 
tion  in  which  he  was  held  as  the  "Grand  Old  Man" 
of  New  York.  He  had  just  passed  his  eighty-fifth 
birthday,  and  his  physical  condition  was  such  that 
he  could  not  safely  undertake  the  severe  strain 
which  awaited  him.  It  was  fortunate  for  him,  it 
was  fortunate  for  the  city,  that  he  was  equal  to  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties  until  they  came  to  an 
end.  How  well  he  discharged  these  duties  is  not 
only  familiar  to  all  those  who  saw  and  heard  him, 
but  has  now  become  a  matter  of  history. 

He  was,  in  himself,  the  equal,  in  point  of  interest, 
to  the  distinguished  visitors,  and  his  words  of 
welcome,  perfectly  simple,  entirely  unaffected,  and 
thoroughly  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  were  char 
acteristic  of  his  good  taste,  excellent  judgment,  and 
ability  to  express  the  prevailing  sentiment.  As  I 


THE  NEW  YORKER  111 

stood  amid  the  throng  in  the  Aldermanic  Chamber 
in  the  City  Hall,  and  listened  to  his  speech  at  the 
reception  of  the  French  Commission,  I  could  not 
fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  republican  simplicity 
of  the  occasion,  in  its  freedom  from  all  extraneous 
display,  as  his  venerable  figure  presented  itself,  and 
gave  utterance  to  his  words  of  welcome.  Surely  the 
same  impression  must  have  been  made  upon  those 
to  whom  he  addressed  them. 

Mr.  Choate  said: 

"Mr.  President,  Marshal  Joffre,  and  Gentlemen 
of  Your  Associates :  I  deem  it  a  very  proud  honor 
to  be  the  spokesman  of  this  great  committee,  that 
stands  for  all  the  people  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
Fifteen  minutes  ago  you  landed  on  the  very  spot 
where  in  1824,  on  his  last  visit  to  America,  La 
fayette  himself  landed.  It  is  impossible  to  express 
in  words  how  much  America  owes  to  France.  We 
had  our  days  that  tried  men's  souls  in  our  original 
struggle  for  independence,  when  Lafayette  and 
Rochambeau  came  over  to  the  assistance  of  Wash 
ington.  We  had  our  most  trying  hours,  and 
Washington  himself,  with  his  little  worn-out  army 
at  Valley  Forge,  hatless,  shoeless,  coatless,  almost 
breadless,  presented  the  most  touching  picture,  as 
I  think,  in  all  American  history.  It  was  just  at 
that  time  that  Lafayette  came  to  his  assistance, 
and  with  those  two  heroes  by  his  side  Washington 
won  the  great  and  final  battle  of  Yorktown,  which 
established  the  independence  of  the  United  States. 


112  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"But  what  we  go  so  far  back  in  history  to  recall 
is,  in  my  judgment,  nothing,  comparatively  nothing, 
to  the  great  service  which  France  has  rendered  to 
America  during  the  last  two  years  and  nine  months. 
You  have  been  fighting  our  battles  every  day.  And 
it  is  true  that  at  this  moment  the  sons  of  France 
are  pouring  out  their  blood  like  water  that  we  and 
the  other  free  nations  of  the  earth  may  enjoy  liberty 
forevermore. 

"I  do  not  know  that  it  is  proper  for  me  on  this 
occasion  to  make  any  promises.  The  Mayor  has 
told  you  what  we  expect  to  do.  Our  Chief  Magis 
trate  at  Washington  has  uttered  recently,  in  a  docu 
ment  addressed  to  Congress,  the  purpose  of  the 
United  States  to  maintain  the  conflict  on  which  we 
have  entered  as  your  allies,  and  to  conquer,  in  his 
own  language,  submarines  or  no  submarines,  and 
we  mean  to  do  it. 

"It  is  true  that  we  are  not  used  to  war.  We  have 
hardly  yet  begun  to  get  ready ;  but  I  believe,  in  men, 
in  resources,  in  munitions,  in  all  the  equipment  for 
war,  we  can  before  long  be  ready;  and  for  one  I 
shall  be  disappointed,  be  much  disappointed,  if 
within  a  few  months  there  is  not  a  solid  company, 
a  division  at  least,  of  American  troops  waving  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  led  by  competent  commanders, 
crossing  the  Atlantic  to  take  their  stand  by  the 
side  of  Great  Britain  and  France  in  this  great  war. 

"You  have  come,  gentlemen,  to  show  us  the  way, 
to  show  us  how  to  do  it,  to  show  us  how  to  get 
ready,  and  there  is  no  better  representation  of  the 


THE  NEW  YORKER  113 

great  nation  from  which  you  come  than  you,  your 
selves,  by  the  achievements  that  you  have  already 
done.  I  believe  that  there  are  fifteen  millions  of 
men  of  the  right  age  for  warfare  among  our  hun 
dred  millions  of  people.  I  believe  that  we  have 
unbounded  resources  to  sustain  our  Allies  to  the 
end  of  the  war,  and  I  believe  from  what  I  have 
seen  this  very  day,  in  the  last  half  mile  from  the 
Battery  to  the  City  Hall,  the  people  of  New  York 
undoubtedly  represent  the  whole  people  of  the 
nation,  all  of  one  accord,  shouting  triumph,  wel 
come,  honor  to  France. 

"I  believe  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
are  ready  with  your  people  to  shed  the  last  drop 
of  their  blood,  if  it  be  necessary,  to  spend  their  last 
dollar  if  it  be  necessary,  to  spend  their  last  man 
in  order  to  achieve  that  victory  we  confidently 
expect." 

On  the  following  day  the  scene  was  again  re 
peated,  but  with  Mr.  Balfour  and  his  associates  of 
the  British  Commission  in  the  places  occupied  by 
Marshal  Joffre,  M.  Viviani  and  their  associates  of 
the  French  Commission.  It  was,  indeed,  a  graceful 
act  of  Mr.  Balfour  to  descend  from  the  platform 
to  which  he  had  been  conducted  and  grasp  the  hand 
of  Mr.  Choate,  as  an  old  friend,  after  which  he 
resumed  his  place,  and  again  Mr.  Choate  gave 
expression  to  the  welcome  of  the  citizens  of  New 
York  to  the  British  Commission  in  the  following 
words : 


114  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"Mr.  Mayor,  Mr.  Balfour,  Your  Excellency,  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  Commission:  During  the  six 
happy  years  that  I  spent  in  England,  when  I  was 
sent  abroad  for  the  good  of  my  country,  I  remem 
ber  that  from  first  to  last,  in  every  emergency  that 
arose,  you,  Mr.  Balfour,  stood  like  a  rock  of  friend 
ship  between  England  and  the  United  States.  And 
in  all  that  long  public  career,  with  which  you 
have  illustrated  the  history  of  your  country  and  of 
the  world,  it  was  to  you  that  we  were  constantly  in 
debted  for  untiring  and  abiding  friendship  to  the 
United  States.  When  we  entered  into  a  war,  not  for 
our  own  benefit,  but  for  the  benefit  of  emancipating 
a  struggling  little  nation,  the  smallest,  I  believe,  of 
all  the  nations,  we  were  indebted  to  the  British  Gov 
ernment,  over  which  you  had  a  controlling  hand, 
that  no  interference  was  allowed  between  us  and 
the  objects  of  our  efforts. 

"It  has  always  been  the  ambition  and  the  hope 
of  the  people  of  the  city  of  New  York,  whom  I  have 
the  honor  to  represent  for  a  few  minutes  now,  that 
this  friendship  between  our  two  countries  might  be 
perpetual  and  never  disturbed.  We  were  just  be 
ginning  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  an  entire 
century  of  absolute  peace  between  England  and 
the  United  States  when  this  horrible  war  that  is 
now  upon  us  broke  out.  We  are  disused  from  war. 
We  do  not  exactly  know  how  to  carry  on  war,  ac 
cording  to  the  modern  methods,  and  it  is  our 
greatest  delight  that  you  have  come  with  your  able 
body  of  experts  that  accompany  you  to  show  us 


THE  NEW  YORKER  115 

how  to  enter  into  the  war,  to  show  us  what  to  do, 
and  especially  what  not  to  do.  I  am  sure  we  can 
rely  upon  your  constant  advice  for  that. 

"We  hesitated,  we  doubted,  we  hung  back,  not 
from  any  lack  of  sympathy,  not  from  any  lack  of 
enthusiasm,  not  because  we  did  not  know  what  was 
the  right  path;  but  how  to  take  it,  and  when  to 
take  it,  was  always  the  question.  I  feared  at  one 
time  that  we  might  enter  into  it  for  some  selfish 
purpose,  for  the  punishment  of  aggressions  against 
our  individual,  national,  personal  rights,  for  the 
destruction  of  American  ships  or  of  a  few  American 
lives,  ample  ground  for  war;  but  we  waited,  and 
it  turns  out  that  we  waited  wisely,  because  we 
were  able  at  last  to  enter  into  this  great  contest, 
this  great  contest  of  the  whole  world,  for  noble  and 
lofty  purposes,  such  as  never  attracted  nations  be 
fore.  We  are  entering  into  it  under  your  lead,  sir, 
for  the  purpose  of  the  vindication  of  human  rights, 
for  the  vindication  of  free  government  throughout 
the  world,  for  the  establishment  of,  by  and  by,  soon, 
we  hope,  late  it  may  be,  of  a  peace  which  shall 
endure,  and  not  a  peace  that  shall  be  no  peace  at 
all.  Fortunately,  we  have  now  no  room  for  choice. 
Under  the  guidance  of  the  President  of  our  choice, 
at  Washington,  we  stand  pledged  now  before  all 
the  world,  to  all  the  Allies  whom  we  have  joined,  to 
carry  into  this  contest  all  that  we  have,  all  that  we 
hope  for,  and  all  that  we  ever  aspire  unto.  We 
shall  be  in  time  to  take  part  in  that  peace  which 
shall  forever  stand,  and  prevent  any  more  such 


116  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

national  outrages  as  commenced  this  war,  and  have 
continued  it  on  the  side  of  Germany.  Already  we 
have  been  only  thirty  days  in  the  war,  and  it  has 
had  a  marvelous  effect  upon  our  own  people.  Be 
fore  that  there  was  apathy,  there  was  indifference, 
there  was  indulgence  in  personal  pursuits,  in  per 
sonal  prosperity;  but  to-day  every  young  man  in 
America,  and  every  old  man,  too,  is  asking,  what 
can  I  do  best  to  serve  my  country?  Mr.  Balfour, 
during  your  brief  stay  among  us,  you  will  be  able 
to  answer  that  question. ' ' 

At  a  dinner  at  the  close  of  these  festivities,  Mr. 
Choate  again  spoke,  endeavoring  to  impress  the 
duty  of  enthusiastic  support  of  the  Allies,  and 
energetic  action  in  maintaining  their  cause.  On  this 
occasion  he  expressed  very  freely  his  sentiments 
regarding  the  army  which  Colonel  Roosevelt  pro 
posed  to  enlist  and  lead  to  France.  He  said : 

"Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen:  When  I  survey 
these  galleries,  one  above  the  other,  and  behold 
what  celestial  happiness  has  prevailed  there  for  the 
last  hour,  and  what  earthly  happiness  has  prevailed 
on  the  floor  below,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  there 
is  nothing  that  women  love  better  than  to  see  the 
lions  feed — until  the  time  comes  to  hear  them 
roar. 

"Now  that  we  have  fairly  embarked  in  this  war, 
following  the  lead  of  those  dear  Allies  of  ours,  Great 
Britain,  our  beloved  mother  country,  and  France, 


THE  NEW  YOEKER  117 

our  dear,  delightful,  bewitching,  fascinating,  hyp 
notizing  sister,  there  can  be  no  such  word  as  fail. 
We  are  in  for  victory,  which  must  be  won  together. 
Why,  we  have  only  been  at  war  for  thirty  days, 
and  see  what  a  change  has  come  over  the  young 
men  of  America.  I  feel  it  myself,  being  young. 

"I  feel  inspired  with  the  soul  of  our  dear  old 
Admiral  Farragut.  You  remember  when  he  was 
making  his  toilsome  way  up  the  Bay  of  Mobile, 
lashed  in  the  rigging  of  the  Hartford,  the 
Brooklyn,  that  was  before  him,  stopped  for  a 
moment,  as  if  to  throw  the  whole  line  out  of  order, 
and  the  Admiral  shouted  through  his  trumpet, 
*  What's  the  trouble  there  T  The  answer  came  back, 
'Torpedoes.'  The  Admiral  immediately  replied, 
'Damn  the  torpedoes;  full  speed  ahead,'  and  he 
went  full  speed  ahead.  He  suffered  some  from  the 
torpedoes  but  he  reached  the  bay. 

"Now  we  are  impetuous  youths,  full  of  the  spirit 
of  early  manhood.  We  want  to  do  something  at 
once;  and  yesterday,  when  I  ventured  to  say  that 
we  shall  call  upon  our  authorities  at  Washington 
to  hurry  up,  M.  Viviani,  I  noticed,  answered  me 
by  saying  that  he  did  not  see  it.  So  impetuous 
youth  must  wait.  We  have  to  wait  a  little  while 
for  them.  Then  I  could  never  see — it  was  my 
youthful  ardor,  because  I  looked  upon  it  in  the 
boyish  spirit — I  could  not  see  why  a  man  who  had 
already  served  his  country  so  nobly  and  so  wisely 
that  his  fame  had  reached  the  uttermost  corners  of 
the  earth,  and  was  identified  with  the  name  of 


118  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

America,  when  he  proposed  to  offer  to  his  country 
a  division  of  20,000  soldiers  all  prepared  to  cross 
and  take  their  places  by  the  side  of  their  brethren 
in  France  or  even  Great  Britain,  why  he  should  not 
have  been  allowed  to  go.  I  think  that  if  he  was 
willing  to  take  the  risk  of  it  we  might.  But  there 
again  a  wiser  body  than  any  of  us,  an  immortal 
body,  not  possessed  so  much  of  soul  as  of  immor 
tality — there  Congress  stepped  in  and  held  me,  and 
Roosevelt,  back.  So  we  are  here  to-night  to  address 
you;  although  we  have  got  a  great  deal  to  learn, 
and  happily  for  us  England  has  sent  her  wisest  and 
her  best,  and  France  has  sent  her  noblest  and  her 
proudest  to  teach  us  how. 

"They  will  show  us  the  way  which  we  want  to 
follow.  They  will  show  us  how  to  do  it  and  how 
not  to  do  it,  and  following  their  lead  we  shall  come 
to  that  great  and  last  and  final  victory  which  will 
secure  us  a  peace  that  will  never  end. 

"Why  has  America  entered  this  war?  What  had 
she  to  gain  by  it?  Far  removed  from  the  scenes  of 
carnage,  her  youth  untouched,  her  manhood,  and 
her  womanhood  undisturbed,  a  few  of  her  vessels 
sunk,  a  few  lives  lost — ample  cause  for  war,  but  we 
waited — we  were  not  ready.  We  are  not  very  ready 
now,  but  by  and  by  America  will  learn.  America, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  Lakes 
to  the  Gulf,  America  has  learned  what  this  war  is 
about,  what  it  is  for — that  it  is  for  the  establishment 
of  freedom  against  slavery,  for  the  vindication  of 
free  government  against  tyranny  and  oppression 


THE  NEW  YORKER  119 

and  autocracy  and  all  the  other  horrible  names  that 
you  can  apply  to  misgovernment.  When  it  came  to 
that  there  was  but  one  question  for  America,  and 
our  President  at  Washington  has  solved  it  for  us. 
Nobody  can  tell  how  far  he  saw  ahead  any  more 
than  we  at  this  moment  can  tell  how  far  we  can 
see  ahead. 

"But  he  solved  it  for  us  by  calling  upon  Con 
gress  to  declare  war.  They  have  declared  war 
upon  the  Imperial  Government  of  Germany  and 
Congress  has  placed  in  our  hands  all  the  power,  all 
the  privileges  that  President  Abraham  Lincoln  in 
the  midst  of  our  Civil  War  ever  possessed.  So  that 
is  one  way  out  of  it.  We  are  to  go  on  to  victory, 
and  that  victory,  I  believe,  will  be  hastened,  not 
only  twofold,  but  tenfold  by  the  fact  of  our  enter 
ing  into  the  contest. 

"That  I  hope  that  we  can  do  for  these  war-worn 
Allies  of  ours.  How  they  have  suffered.  How  they 
have  toiled.  What  horrible  sacrifices  they  have 
submitted  to.  Their  own  homes  have  been  deci 
mated,  their  firesides  made  unhappy,  their  youths 
slaughtered,  and  they  themselves  are  suffering 
extreme  agony,  as  I  believe,  while  we  have  gone  on 
indulging  in  luxuries,  increasing  our  wealth,  think 
ing  that  no  harm  could  ever  come  to  us ;  that  no  guns 
could  ever  be  forged  big  enough  to  reach  our  homes. 
And  we  began  to  hang  our  heads  in  shame,  until  the 
President  gave  the  final  order  that  we  must  go  and 
help  them  with  all  the  might  we  can.  For  the  first 
time,  after  two  years  and  a  half,  I  was  able  to 


120  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

hold  up  my  head  as  high  as  the  weight  of  eighty- 
five  years  would  allow. 

"And  I  believe  that  is  true  of  every  man  here.  I 
believe  it  is  true  of  the  husbands  and  brothers  and 
sons  of  every  woman  here.  Now,  we  have  got  a 
great  opportunity.  No  country  ever  had  so  great 
an  opportunity  as  we  have  got.  No  man  was  ever 
prouder  than  I  am,  as  a  citizen  of  this  country,  that 
an  opportunity  has  at  last  been  seized  upon  and  we 
are  there  side  by  side  with  Balf our  and  Viviani  and 
Joffre  and  all  those  great  men,  those  great  and 
distinguished  men,  whom  we  have  here  seeking  to 
honor." 

During  these  four  days  of  entertainment  he  was 
engaged  from  morning  until  late  at  night  in  at 
tending  from  two  to  four  formal  functions,  and 
others  less  formal,  and  these  gave  him  almost  no 
time  for  rest.  Long  automobile  journeys,  up  and 
down  town,  amid  applauding  throngs,  escorting  the 
visitors  up  the  flights  of  steps  to  and  from  the  place 
of  assemblage  in  the  City  Hall,  and  at  Columbia 
University,  making  speeches  of  welcome  at  all 
formal  functions,  he  was  undertaking  duties  beyond 
the  physical  ability  of  a  man  of  eighty-five.  He 
was  introduced  by  the  Mayor  as  New  York's  fore 
most,  and  most  beloved,  citizen.  When  he  spoke 
his  voice  was  clear  and  his  manner  vigorous.  He 
told  his  friends  that  he  was  at  last  happy,  after 
three  years  of  depression,  happy  that  we  entered 
the  fight  against  barbarism,  and  his  speeches  rang 


THE  NEW  YOEKER  121 

with  warlike  spirit.  How  much  Mr.  Choate,  in 
these  last  days,  contributed  to  the  formation  of 
patriotic  sentiment  in  the  minds  of  New  Yorkers, 
and  a  whole-hearted  and  enthusiastic  support  of 
the  cause  of  the  Allies,  can  never  be  overestimated. 

On  the  last  night  of  Mr.  Balfour's  visit,  Mr. 
Choate  invited  Mr.  Balf  our,  Dr.  Bergson,  Dr.  Butler 
and  a  few  other  friends,  to  his  home,  after  the  last 
public  function.  During  the  evening  he  asked  his 
friends  to  gather  around  him  and  discuss  a  topic 
he  had  in  mind.  Those  present  expected  that  it 
would  concern,  perhaps,  our  international  relations, 
or  the  division  of  territory  after  the  war,  or  some 
other  subject  intimately  connected  with  the  war. 
But,  contrary  to  expectations,  Mr.  Choate  said  that 
he  would  like  to  discuss  for  a  while  the  immor 
tality  of  the  soul.  For  about  an  hour  these  dis 
tinguished  men  conferred  on  this  subject,  which  was 
so  soon  to  become  to  him  a  reality. 

On  Sunday  he  attended  service  at  the  Cathedral 
of  St.  John  the  Divine  with  Mr.  Balfour.  After 
service  Mr.  Choate  and  Mr.  Balfour  bade  each  other 
farewell,  never  to  meet  on  this  earth  again.  His 
parting  words  to  Mr.  Balfour  were:  "Good-by; 
remember,  we  shall  meet  again  to  celebrate  the 
victory."  On  May  13th  Mr.  Choate,  evidently  very 
ill,  said  to  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  were  at  his 
bedside:  "I  am  feeling  very  ill;  I  believe  this  is 
the  end,"  and  soon  after  passed  away. 

New  York  has,  fortunately,  been  rich  in  citizens 
who,  by  their  natural  gifts,  intellectual  attainments 


122  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

and  public  achievements,  have  added  to  its  glory. 
But,  among  them  all,  none,  I  venture  to  say,  has 
been,  like  Mr.  Choate,  upon  the  scene,  in  the  lime 
light  of  publicity  for  half  a  century,  and  shone 
with  greater  brilliancy,  or  bestowed  on  New  York 
and  New  Yorkers,  in  so  many  different  directions, 
more  delightful  entertainment,  and  more  valuable 
service.  On  the  roll  of  New  York's  most  famous 
citizens,  none  will  have  a  higher  place  than  Joseph 
H.  Choate. 

It  is  frequently  said  that  Mr.  Choate 's  life  was 
fortunate.  This  is  perfectly  true,  but  if  it  is  in 
tended  to  convey  the  idea  that  this  good  fortune 
was  fortuitous  or  accidental,  I  do  not  think  it  would 
be  correct.  On  the  contrary,  he  worked  out  his  good 
fortune  by  the  use  of  a  combination  of  qualities 
which  enabled  him  to  pursue  his  profession  with 
industry  and  perseverance;  to  take  an  optimistic 
view  of  things;  to  co-operate  harmoniously  with 
others,  and  to  surmount  obstacles  seemingly  in 
surmountable.  There  was  no  " royal  road"  for 
him;  he  traveled  the  well-worn  highway  of  every 
day  life  and  succeeded  where  others  failed. 

But,  if  he  was  fortunate  in  his  life,  he  was  no 
less  fortunate  in  its  termination.  Forty  days 
earlier  death  would  have  robbed  him  of  the  crown 
ing  service  of  his  career;  his  last  days  were  a 
culmination  of  patriotic  service,  filled  with  noble 
enthusiasm  for  a  world-wide  democracy,  and  the 
destruction  of  military  autocracy.  No  flabby 
pacifist  was  he,  but  a  crusader  in  pursuit  of  Liberty, 


THE  NEW  YOEKER  123 

of  Law,  of  Humanity,  of  Popular  Eights,  of  Civi 
lization.  He  gave  all  that  was  left  of  life  in  a 
struggle  with  the  best  weapons  heaven  had  fur 
nished  him — fervid  appeal,  convincing  logic,  mov 
ing  eloquence — to  inspire  his  countrymen  with  a 
lofty  enthusiasm  for  these  high  ideals.  No  one 
has  rendered  nobler  service.  He  knew  he  faced 
death  in  rendering  it. 

And,  as  amid  a  vast  applauding  throng  in  Car 
negie  Hall,  he  listened  to  the  recital  of  the  inspiring 
"Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,"  and  Mr.  Balfour's 
pledge  of  unity  of  purpose,  he  must  have  felt  as  if 
he,  too,  had  seen 

"The  glory  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord." 

And  when,  after  his  interchange  of  views  with 
his  friends  on  the  "immortality  of  the  soul"  he 
bade  Mr.  Balfour  "Good-by;  remember,  we  shall 
meet  again  to  celebrate  the  victory,"  it  was  no 
mournful  parting,  but  with  the  eye  of  faith  he 
looked  forward  to  a  victorious  outcome,  and  a 
joyful  reunion. 

"Say  not,  good-night,  but,  in  some  happier  clime, 
Bid  me,  good  morning." 


Ill 

THE  LAWYER 


m 

THE  LAWYER 

WHEN  Mr.  Choate,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  ap 
peared  at  the  Bar  of  New  York,  the  lawyers  of 
distinction  won  renown  by  eloquence  before  juries, 
and  compelling  reason  before  appellate  tribunals. 
Their  professional  life  was  spent  mostly  in  the 
Courts,  and  to  a  small  extent  in  their  offices.  Courts 
were  the  avenues  to  pecuniary  success  and  pro 
fessional  eminence.  Lawyers  of  learning  and  ability 
found  opportunity  there  to  display  their  power,  and 
win  their  reputations.  From  their  ranks  the  bench 
was  filled  with  able  judges,  and  our  legislative  halls 
with  distinguished  statesmen. 

The  great  Court  lawyer  has  well-nigh  disappeared 
from  the  Bar  of  New  York.  It  may  not  be  true  of 
other  localities,  but  in  commercial  centers,  where 
corporate  and  financial  interests  congregate,  com 
paratively  few  eminent  Court  lawyers  are  to  be 
found.  The  gradual  development  of  present-day 
conditions  has  been  unfavorable  to  their  production, 
and  is  responsible  for  their  disappearance.  The 
successful  lawyer  is,  at  present,  viewed  from  the 
standpoint  of  commercial  shrewdness  and  a  large 
professional  income.  The  measure  of  his  pro 
fessional  worth  is  his  dollar-producing  value.  If 

127 


128  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

this  is  the  criterion  of  success,  the  business  lawyer 
is  undoubtedly  successful,  but  he  is  not  the  great 
lawyer.  His  reward  is  pecuniary;  that  of  his 
brother  in  the  Courts  is  found  in  the  estimation  of 
his  professional  ability  and  skill  by  his  brethren  of 
the  Bar,  and  an  appreciative  public.  The  business 
of  the  Court  lawyer  calls  for  intellectual  capacity 
of  a  high  order,  developed  by  assiduous  study  of  the 
law  as  a  science,  and  by  literary  culture.  That  of 
the  business  lawyer  is,  to  a  large  extent,  commercial. 
He  never  draws  a  pleading,  nor  prepares  a  case 
for  trial,  nor  tries  a  case,  nor  argues  an  appeal,  and, 
quite  likely,  is  never  seen  inside  a  courtroom.  He 
is  occupied  with  commercial  interests,  incorpora 
tions,  consolidations,  receiverships,  insolvencies  and 
reorganizations.  The  Courts  are  deserted  for  busi 
ness  activity — resulting  in  a  deterioration  of  Bench 
and  Bar.  Visitors  to  Courts  where  jury  cases  are 
tried  will,  at  the  present  day,  rarely  find  among 
the  counsel  leaders  of  the  Bar,  but  juniors,  whose 
seniors  are  occupied  with  more  profitable  business 
connected  with  commercial  and  financial  enterprise. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  our  appellate  tribunals, 
where  cases  are  seldom  argued  by  lawyers  of  com 
manding  position.  The  tendency,  in  recent  times,  is 
to  graduate  from  the  Court  to  the  more  lucrative 
business  of  the  office,  while  formerly  the  lawyer 
seeking  the  "bubble  reputation, "  graduated  from 
the  drudgery  of  the  office  to  the  more  conspicuous 
activity  of  the  Courts.  This  remarkable  change  has 
been  brought  about  by  modern  business  methods, 


THE  LAWYER  129 

growth  of  corporate  interests,  enlarged  fields  of 
commercial  enterprise  and  various  channels  for  the 
employment  of  capital.  Of  course,  there  are  now, 
and  always  will  be,  large  opportunities  in  the  Courts 
for  lawyers  of  ability  and  high  legal  attainments; 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  such  distinguished  practi 
tioners  as  graced  our  Courts  up  to  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  century  will  be  found  there  in  the 
future. 

From  the  time  I  first  saw  Mr.  Choate,  in  1870, 
down  to  his  retirement  from  the  Bar  to  enter  upon 
the  duties  of  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St.  James, 
he  was  essentially  and,  indeed,  exclusively  a  Court 
lawyer.  His  triumphs  were  forensic.  He  was  con 
stantly  before  juries  or  appellate  tribunals.  Other 
departments  of  professional  life  seemed  to  have  no 
attraction  for  him.  Probably  he  never  had  any 
aspiration  to  succeed  other  than  as  a  great  advocate. 
His  wonderful  success  as  such  is  well  recognized. 

Certainly  none  of  the  temptations  or  allurements 
of  commercial  or  corporate  activity  were  able  to 
draw  him  away  from  the  halls  of  justice.  All  his 
training  was  in  the  direction  of  the  Court  lawyer, 
not  the  least  valuable  of  which  was  his  association 
with  William  M.  Evarts,  during  which  he  was  con 
stantly  at  his  side.  Upon  the  retirement  of  Mr. 
Evarts  the  cloak  of  Elijah  naturally  fell  upon  the 
shoulders  of  Elisha.  He  is  a  striking  instance  of 
the  achievement  of  rare  success,  and  professional 
renown,  by  skillful  advocacy  before  Courts  and 
juries. 


130  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

In  his  address  at  the  dinner  given  to  him  by  the 
Bench  and  Bar  of  England  at  Lincoln's  Inn  April 
14, 1905,  he  alludes  to  this : 

"I  will  confess  that  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  my  forty-four  years  at  the  Bar,  I  loved  the 
profession  with  all  the  ardor  and  intensity  that  that 
jealous  mistress,  the  law,  could  ever  exact,  and  so 
always  tried  to  pay  back  the  debt  which,  as  Lord 
Bacon  says,  'all  owe  to  the  profession  that  honors 
us/  .  .  .1  started  in  life  with  a  belief  that  our 
profession  in  its  highest  walks  afforded  the  best 
employment  in  which  any  man  could  engage,  and  I 
am  of  the  same  opinion  still.  Until  I  became  an 
Ambassador  and  entered  the  terra  incognita  of 
diplomacy,  I  believed  a  man  could  be  of  greater 
service  to  his  country  and  his  race  in  the  foremost 
ranks  of  the  Bar  than  anywhere  else ;  and  I  think  so 
still.  To  be  a  priest,  and  possibly  a  high  priest  in 
the  Temple  of  Justice ;  to  serve  at  her  altar  and  aid 
in  her  administration;  to  maintain  and  defend  the 
inalienable  rights  of  life,  liberty  and  property  upon 
which  the  safety  of  society  depends;  to  succor  the 
oppressed  and  defend  the  innocent ;  to  maintain  con 
stitutional  rights  against  all  violations,  whether 
executive,  by  the  legislative,  by  the  resistless  power 
of  the  press,  or  worst  of  all  by  the  ruthless  rapacity 
of  an  unbridled  majority;  to  rescue  the  scapegoat 
and  restore  him  to  his  proper  place  in  the  world — 
all  this  seemed  to  me  to  furnish  a  field  worthy  of 
any  man's  ambition. "  How  different,  and  im- 


WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS 


THE  LAWYER  131 

measurably  superior  is  this  to  the  commercializing 
spirit  that  seems  to  pervade  the  profession  to-day. 

In  his  address  before  the  American  Bar  Associa 
tion,  which  will  be  found  in  his  American  Addresses, 
he  plainly  showed  that  he  was  in  love  with  the  law. 
The  law,  he  said,  is  a  "jealous  mistress/'  and  Mr. 
Choate's  love  for  this  jealous  mistress  impelled  him 
to  permit  nothing  to  interfere  with  his  devotion  to 
her  interests. 

In  an  address  to  young  men  intending  to  enter  the 
law  he  gave  expression  to  his  sentiments  upon  this 
subject.  He  said: 

"In  the  first  place,  no  young  man  should  go  into 
the  law  unless  he  is  irresistibly  attracted  by  it, 
unless  he  is  prepared  to  make  of  it  a  profession 
instead  of  a  trade.  Next,  he  should  convince  him 
self  that  law  is  not  a  thing  of  quibbles  and  crotchets, 
but  a  body  of  truth  as  broad  and  well  defined  as 
human  right.  Next,  he  should  study  hard,  as  it  is 
impossible  to  get  too  much  knowledge  of  the  subject 
at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  and  finally,  he  should 
always  be  good-natured,  honest  and  persevering, 
and  he  should  get  all  the  practice  he  can.'* 

On  another  occasion  he  said : 

"I  have  made  it  my  rule  never  to  neglect  a  case, 
no  matter  how  unimportant  it  may  seem.  A  doctor 
owes  it  to  the  dignity  of  his  profession  to  treat  a 
cut  finger  successfully  just  as  he  would  a  fractured 
skull.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  lawyer, 


132  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

although,  unfortunately,  not  all  lawyers  appreciate 
the  fact." 

As  to  what  constitutes  success  he  said  in  an 
interview : 

"Success!"  said  he,  keenly  catching  at  the  word, 
"no  man  is  unsuccessful  who  has  plenty  to  do.  So 
long  as  one  can  honestly  perform  his  fair  share  of 
the  world's  work  he  enjoys  the  only  success  it  is 
possible  for  anybody  to  achieve. 

"Money  is  not  necessary,  opportunity  comes  to 
everyone,  but  all  have  not  the  mind  to  see.  Friends 
you  can  do  without  for  a  time,  good  advice  we  take 
too  late,  and  popularity  usually  comes  too  early  or 
too  tardy  to  be  appreciated.  The  most  successful 
men  sometimes  have  not  one  of  all  these  early 
advantages,  and  it  won't  bring  a  man  knowledge  of 
the  law  nor  enable  him  to  convince  a  jury.  What 
he  needs  is  years  of  close  application,  the  ability 
to  stick  until  he  has  mastered  the  necessary  knowl 
edge.  I  obtained  my  knowledge  from  reading  at 
home,  and  fighting  in  the  Courts — principally  fight 
ing  in  the  Courts.  There  was  not  any  good  luck 
about  obtaining  my  first  case,  unless  it  was  the  good 
luck  of  having  a  sign  out  large  enough  for  the  people 
to  see ;  the  rest  was  hard  work,  getting  the  evidence 
and  the  law  fixed  in  my  mind.  I  believe  that  oppor 
tunities  come  to  all,  not  the  same  opportunities,  nor 
the  same  kind  of  opportunities,  nor  opportunities 
half  so  valuable  in  some  cases  as  in  others,  but  they 


THE  LAWYER  133 

do  come,  and  if  seen  and  grasped  will  work  a  vast 
improvement  in  the  life  and  character  of  an  indi 
vidual.  I  have  always  made  the  most  of  good  luck 
and  happy  accidents.  The  real  struggle  to-day  is 
to  hold  on  to  every  advantage,  and  strengthen  the 
mind  at  every  important  step.  There  are  persons 
who  have  learned  to  endure  poverty  so  well  that 
they  do  not  mind  it  any  longer.  The  struggle  comes 
in  maintaining  a  purpose  through  to  the  end.  It  is 
just  as  difficult  to  maintain  a  purpose  through 
riches.  Money  is  not  an  end,  and  need  is  only  an 
incentive.  Erskine  made  his  greatest  speech  with 
his  hungry  children  tugging  at  his  coat  tails.  That 
intense  feeling  that  something  has  got  to  be  done 
is  the  thing  that  works  the  doing.  I  have  never  met 
a  great  man  who  was  born  rich.  Constant  labor  is 
happiness,  and  success  simply  means  ability  to  do 
more  labor,  more  deeds  far  reaching  in  their  power 
and  effect.  Such  success  brings  about  as  much  hap 
piness  as  the  world  provides.  The  man  whose  great 
efforts  have  brought  success  and  with  it  all  the  sur 
roundings  of  luxury,  hosts  of  friends,  applause  of 
all  the  people,  sumptuous  repasts  and  hours  of  idle 
ness  and  ease,  is  really  the  one  whose  life  has  been  a 
constant  refutation  of  the  need  of  these  things.  He 
is  the  one  who  has  abstained,  who  has  conserved  his 
mental  and  physical  strength,  by  living  a  simple  and 
frugal  life.  He  has  not  taken  more  than  he  needed 
and  never,  if  possible,  less.  His  enjoyment  has  been 
in  working,  and  I  guarantee  that  you  will  find  suc 
cessful  men  ever  to  be  plain-mannered  persons  of 


134  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

simple  tastes,  to  whom  sumptuous  repasts  are  a 
bore,  and  luxury  a  thing  apart.  They  may  live  sur 
rounded  by  these  things  but,  personally,  take  little 
interest  in  them,  knowing  them  to  be  mere  trappings 
which  neither  add  to  nor  detract  from  character." 

In  his  address  before  the  American  Bar  Associa 
tion  he  expressed  his  love  of  the  law,  of  his  thorough 
and  enthusiastic  belief  in  his  profession,  and  paid 
an  eloquent  tribute  to  it. 

Comparing  it  with  other  professions  he  referred 
to  theology  as  having  been  formerly  considered  an 
immutable  science,  but  having  undergone  remark 
able  changes  from  age  to  age;  as  to  medicine, 
how  its  theories  had  succeeded  each  other  in  rapid 
evolution,  so  that  what  were  good  methods  and 
healing  doses,  saving  prescriptions  a  generation 
ago,  are  now  condemned,  and  all  the  past  is  ad 
judged  to  be  empirical.  His  love  for  the  law  was 
because,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  among  all  learned  pro 
fessions  it  is  the  only  one  that  involves  the  study 
and  the  pursuit  of  a  careful  and  exact  science,  which 
makes  void  the  part  where  fault  is  and  preserves 
the  rest,  as  it  has  been  doing  for  centuries." 

His  lofty  conception  of  the  profession  and  its 
office  bearers  could  hardly  be  better  expressed  than 
in  his  words : 

"So  long  as  the  Supreme  Court  exists  to  be  at 
tacked  and  defended;  so  long  as  the  public  credit 
and  good  faith  of  this  great  nation  are  imperiled,4 


THE  LAWYER  135 

so  long  as  the  right  of  property  which  lies  at  the 
root  of  all  civil  government  is  scouted,  and  the 
three  inalienable  rights  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness  which  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence  proclaims,  and  the  constitution  has  guar 
anteed,  are  in  jeopardy,  so  long  will  great  public 
service  be  demanded  of  the  Bar. ' ' 

If  the  Bar  were  called  upon  to  name  the  most 
interesting  figure  among  the  great  Court  lawyers 
of  New  York,  within  the  past  thirty  years,  a  large 
majority,  I  believe,  would  name  Joseph  H.  Choate. 

He  has  always  been  considered  one  of  the  finest- 
looking  men  of  our  day,  with  features  classically 
regular,  and  a  high  forehead  over  which  his  reddish- 
brown  hair  fell  carelessly.  Until  sixty-five,  his  erect 
and  firm  carriage,  healthy  complexion,  curling  hair 
tinged  here  and  there  with  a  suspicion  of  gray, 
seemed  to  belie  his  age,  which  appeared  to  be,  at 
most,  not  over  fifty,  and  made  even  those  who  knew 
him  at  all  forget  that  he  had  been  an  active  factor 
in  the  more  advanced  life  of  New  York,  legal,  politi 
cal  and  social,  for  over  thirty  years.  In  the  court 
room,  thoroughly  master  of  himself,  he  never  be 
trayed  embarrassment  or  lost  his  self-possession. 
Cool  and  imperturbable,  in  the  midst  of  lively  and 
turbulent  proceedings  he  preserved,  throughout,  a 
calm  demeanor  and  serene  expression  of  counte 
nance.  His  searching  eyes,  prominent  nose  and  chin, 
compressed  lips,  round  shoulders  and  bushy  hair, 
presented  the  appearance  of  an  advocate  of  unusual 


136  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

character,  recognized  as  such  by  those  who  had 
never  seen  him  before.  His  skillful  management  of 
a  difficult  case  was  invariably  accompanied  by  an 
air  of  the  utmost  nonchalance  and  apparent  indif 
ference  to  the  result. 

When  in  the  trial  of  a  case,  if  not  on  his  feet, 
he  would  be  seated  with  the  chair  tilted  back,  his 
hands  clasped  behind  his  head,  or  else  with  his  legs 
stretched  out,  and  his  hands  in  his  pockets.  He  was 
never  excitable ;  never  ill-tempered ;  never  appeared 
to  be  keyed  up  to  make  an  effort.  Quite  likely  he 
would  create  an  impression  that  he  regarded  the  case 
as  a  huge  joke ;  that  instead  of  having  any  merit,  it 
was  a  "  make-believe, "  and  his  own  fun-making 
power  would,  more  often  than  not,  laugh  the  case  out 
of  Court.  To  storm  or  rant  was  impossible.  He 
argued  to  the  Court  or  jury  in  the  same  quiet,  con 
versational  way  he  would  use  if  he  had  any  one  of 
his  listeners  in  private.  A  hostile  witness  was  never 
bullied  on  cross-examination,  but  gently  led  by 
shrewd  and  ingenious  questions  to  put  the  case,  be 
fore  he  was  aware,  in  precisely  the  light  Mr.  Choate 
desired.  It  was  most  interesting  to  notice  his 
handling  of  a  " smart"  witness — the  perennial  bore 
of  the  Courts.  Apparently  unconscious  of  the  at 
tempted  smartness  or  evasiveness,  he  cleverly  seized 
every  weak  point,  following  it  up  by  apparently  in 
nocent  questions  fast  upon  each  other,  when  the  wit 
ness  would  suddenly  find  himself  in  a  corner  before 
he  had  time  to  guess  what  his  questioner  was  after. 
,  Standing  before  judge  or  jury  Mr.  Choate  was 


THE  LAWYER  137 

quite  apt  to  thrust  one  hand  in  one  of  his  trousers 
pockets,  or  else  trifle  gently  with  his  watch  chain. 
He  would  even  place  one  foot  upon  the  rung  of  a 
chair.  /He  began  speaking  as  if  engaged,  apparently 
in  private  conversation  with  an  acquaintance,  one 
of  the  jury.  By  and  by  judge  and  jury  and  the 
courtroom  throng  came  to  realize  that  the  wonderful 
charm  of  his  voice,  the  easy  familiarity  of  speech, 
the  quiet  tone,  the  wit,  were  controlled  by  an  in 
visible  art  whose  effect  in  the  making  of  eloquent 
speech  was  most  potent.  /The  wonderful  fascination 
of  his  rhythmic  sentences,  his  powerful  diction,  sen 
tence  after  sentence  spoken  in  the  tongue  of  Shake 
speare  and  the  English  Bible,  revealed  the  fact  that 
a  master  mind,  and  a  masterly  trained  mind,  was 
occupied  with  an  attempt  to  convince  Court  and 
jury.  Not  until  his  speech  was  ended,  nor  after  a 
considerable  interval,  was  the  full  beauty  and  force 
of  it  realized. 

He  did  everything  in  an  apparently  easy  and 
careless  way,  as  if  it  had  not  cost  much  of  an  effort. 
The  nonchalance  with  which  he  strolled  into  Court 
created  an  impression  that  he  had  not  made  much 
preparation;  that  the  favorable  result  was  not  by 
premeditation  and  study,  but  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment.  Nothing  was  further  from  the  truth.  In 
preparation  he  was  industrious  and  painstaking. 
He  was  a  hard  worker.  I  have  heard  him  dilate  on 
the  necessity  of  hard  work  to  accomplish  satisfac 
tory  results. 

At  the  farewell  banquet  given  by  the  Lord  Mayor 


138  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

at  the  Mansion  House,  May  5,  1905,  he  refers  to 

this: 

"I  was  brought  up,"  he  said,  "to  believe  that 
work,  hard  work,  was  the  end  and  aim  of  life — that 
that  was  what  we  were  placed  here  for,  but  on  con 
templating  your  best  examples  I  have  learnt  that 
work  is  only  a  means  to  higher  ends,  to  a  more 
natural  life,  and  the  development  of  our  best  traits 
and  powers  for  the  benefit  of  those  around  us,  for 
getting  and  giving  as  much  happiness  as  the  life  of 
humanity  admits." 

He  gave  all  his  cases  thought,  study  and  careful 
investigation,  but  there  was  no  outward  indication 
of  it.  The  apparent  ease  with  which  he  extracted 
the  facts  from  witnesses,  the  attractive  and  delicate 
play  of  humor  with  which  he  presented  them  to 
the  jury,  were  prime  factors  in  securing  a  favorable 
result,  but  they  were  the  outward  manifestation  of 
careful  preparation./  While  Mr.  Evarts  was  at  the 
Bar,  Mr.  Choate  was  in  the  background.  Mr.  Evarts 
occupied  the  center  of  the  stage,  and  was  in  the 
limelight.  It  was  not  until  Mr.  Evarts  became  a 
member  of  President  Hayes'  administration,  in 
1876,  that  Mr.  Choate  took  the  place  Mr.  Evarts 
so  long  filled.  He  was  then  about  forty-four  years 
of  age.  He  had  been  active  in  the  trial  of  jury 
cases,  but  in  his  profession  was  little  known  except 
as  an  exceptionally  able  jury  lawyer,  who  seemed  to 
lack  the  fundamental  legal  knowledge  essential  to 


THE  LAWYER  139 

successful  advocacy  before  appellate  tribunals  on 
questions  of  law.  Before  juries  his  style  was  so 
plain  and  simple,  there  was  such  absence  of  attempt 
to  produce  striking  oratorical  effects,  all  was  so 
easy,  natural,  and  quite  as  a  matter  of  course,  that 
it  seemed  to  jurors  very  much  as  Garrick's  acting 
did  to  the  countryman  who  responded  to  an  inquiry 
as  to  how  he  liked  Garrick's  acting,  by  saying,  "  Why 
he  did  not  act  at  all,  he  just  talked,  and  went  around 
like  any  of  us;  he  is  no  actor."  But  underneath  it 
there  was  the  well-trained  mind  of  the  well-equipped 
lawyer  enabling  him  through  a  series  of  years  to 
cope  with  the  great  masters  of  the  law,  before  the 
Court  of  Appeals  of  New  York,  and  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  deal  successfully 
with  some  of  the  most  important  legal  problems  of 
our  time.  As  before  juries,  so  before  appellate 
tribunals,  he  displayed  simplicity  of  style  and  lan 
guage,  making  the  matter  appear  so  plain  and  one 
sided  that  it  was  as  if  he  was  explaining  to  school 
children  something  which,  to  their  elders,  would  re 
quire  no  explanation.  If  an  illustration  of  this  in 
a  case  of  the  first  importance  were  needed  it  would 
only  be  necessary  to  turn  to  the  Income  Tax  Cases 
(157  U.  S.  429)  and  read  what  is  evidently  a  part  of 
his  oral  argument  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  Before  judges,  as  before  juries,  he 
gave  the  impression  that  the  matter  in  hand  was  not 
at  all  difficult,  that  there  was  really  but  one  side  to 
the  case,  his  side,  the  justice  of  the  case  so  self- 
evident  it  was  hardly  worth  while  to  spend  very 


140  JOSEPH  H,  CHOATE 

much  time  over  it.  He  made  this  impression,  al 
though  always  far  from  saying  or  doing  anything 
to  lead  juries  and  judges  to  think  that  he  was  trying 
to  make  it.  He  never  dealt  sledge-hammer  blows; 
he  was  never  commonplace;  with  a  jury  he  was 
kindly,  witty,  gracious  and  familiar,  and  they  felt 
complimented  by  his  treatment  of  them.  He  never 
quarreled  with  his  adversary,  never  indulged  in 
wrangling,  and  won  his  cases  by  good-temper,  self- 
control,  tactful  methods,  persuasive  humor  and  ac 
curate  judgment  of  men.  His  success  before  appel 
late  tribunals  as  before  juries  was  well  deserved  be 
cause  based  on  a  solid  foundation  of  extraordinary 
capacity,  supplemented  by  unwearied  labor.  Conse 
quently,  although  without  such  good  fortune  as  Mr. 
Evarts  enjoyed  in  cases  of  national  importance,  like 
the  Beecher  case,  the  Geneva  Arbitration,  the  Presi 
dent  Johnson  impeachment  case  and  some  others, 
he  gradually  attained  to,  and  completely  filled,  the 
place  which  his  great  predecessor  had  occupied,  and 
as  an  all-round  lawyer  became  leader  of  the  Bar. 
The  only  one  who  could  dispute  the  leadership  with 
him  was  Mr.  Carter,  and  it  was  Mr.  Choate's  mag 
nanimity  which  led  him  to  refer  to  Mr.  Carter  as 
the  leader  of  the  Bar,  but  if  a  poll  of  the  Bar  had 
been  taken  as  to  which  was  the  real  leader,  I  believe 
it  would  have  shown  that  it  was  Mr.  Choate.  This 
result  would,  I  think,  be  the  outcome  of  a  general 
consensus  of  opinion  that  in  all  the  qualities  of  a 
great  Court  lawyer  manifested  before  juries  and 
appellate  tribunals  he  was  foremost.  He  was  not  so 


THE  LAWYER  141 

learned  as  Mr.  Carter,  but  as  an  all-round  lawyer 
he  was  greater.  Moreover,  he  was  remarkable  for 
the  number  of  cases  he  won,  frequently  against  Mr. 
Carter,  while  as  a  winner  of  cases  Mr.  Carter  was 
not  notable.  I  know  of  no  one  to  whom  in  his 
oratory  I  may  liken  him  more  than  Wendell 
Phillips,  whose  style,  however,  was  frigid  and  lacked 
humor,  but  was  so  beautifully  simple,  and  of  such 
consummate  oratorical  effect  as  to  charm  the 
listener.  In  his  oratory  Mr.  Choate  used  simple 
words,  short  sentences,  familiar  everyday  expres 
sions,  nothing  strained,  forced  or  unnatural,  no 
oratorical  display,  weaving  into  the  fabric  of  his 
arguments  silver  threads  of  sparkling  humor,  good- 
tempered  raillery  and  audacious  fun,  at  times,  al 
most  appalling. 

Before  Courts  he  was  perfectly  independent, 
never  obsequious,  and  there  were  times  when  he 
could  remind  judges  that  they  were  not  above  criti 
cism.  This  independent  spirit  was  illustrated  on  an 
occasion  when  he  indulged  in  a  comment  before  a 
judge  who,  becoming  incensed,  said  from  the  Bench, 
"If  you  say  that  again  I  shall  commit  you  for  con 
tempt."  Upon  which  Mr.  Choate  replied:  "I  have 
said  it  once,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  it  again." 
On  another  occasion  a  judge  allowed  his  attention 
to  be  diverted  from  an  argument  Mr.  Choate  was 
making.  Mr.  Choate  stopped,  and  the  judge  looked 
up  in  surprise.  Mr.  Choate  addressed  him:  "Your 
Honor,  I  have  just  forty  minutes  in  which  to  make 
my  final  argument.  I  shall  need  not  only  every 


142  JOSEPH  H.  GHOATE 

second  of  my  time  to  do  it  justice,  but  I  shall  also 
need  your  undivided  attention/'  "And  you  shall 
have  it,"  the  judge  courteously  replied. 

In  another  case  when  Mr.  Choate  asked  for  the 
postponement  of  a  trial  of  an  action,  until  he  had 
finished  another  trial  in  which  he  was  engaged: 
"No,"  replied  the  judge,  "this  case  has  been  kept 
waiting  long  enough,  the  trial  must  proceed  now." 
"But  I  cannot  leave  in  the  midst  of  a  trial  before 
the  Surrogate,"  expostulated  Mr.  Choate.  "I  shall 
order  the  trial  to  proceed  at  once,"  exclaimed  the 
judge  snappishly.  "Your  Honor,"  replied  Mr. 
Choate,  speaking  slowly  and  with  icy  politeness, 
"undoubtedly  has  the  physical  power  to  order  me 
to  proceed  with  the  trial  forthwith,  but  your  Honor 
has  not  the  legal  power  to  order  me."  The  judge 
flushed  with  displeasure,  but  immediately  granted 
an  adjournment. 

A  striking  instance  of  his  fearless  and  inde 
pendent  spirit  in  dealing  with  the  judges  was  when 
Eecorder  Smyth  undertook  to  punish  John  W.  Goff, 
himself  subsequently  Recorder,  and  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  for  an  alleged  contempt  of  Court 
while  defending  a  prisoner.  Mr.  Choate  volun 
teered  his  services  in  the  interest  of  the  protection 
of  the  profession  in  doing  whatever  may  be  legiti 
mately  regarded  as  necessary  in  the  discharge  of 
duty.  Mr.  Choate,  in  presenting  the  case,  declared 
that  Mr.  Goff  had  not  committed  a  contempt  because 
his  conduct  on  that  particular  occasion  was  not  what 
Eecorder  Smyth  declared  it  to  be.  "But,"  inter- 


THE  LAWYER  143 

rupted  the  Recorder  heatedly,  "I  saw  him  do  it." 
"Then,"  replied  Mr.  Choate  quite  calmly,  "it  be 
comes  a  question,  of  course,  between  your  Honor's 
personal  observation,  and  the  observation  of  a 
crowd  of  witnesses  who  testified  to  the  contrary. 
Was  your  Honor  ever  conscious,"  he  asked,  "of 
being  absolutely  convinced,  from  the  very  outset  of 
the  trial,  that  a  certain  person  was  guilty?  If  not, 
then  you  are  more  than  human.  Was  your  Honor 
ever  conscious,  as  the  trial  proceeded,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  conceal  your  opinion?  If  not,  then 
you  are  more  than  human.  Well,  that  has  happened 
in  many  Courts,  and  time  and  again  when  it  does 
happen,  it  arouses  the  aggressive  resistance  of  every 
advocate  who  understands  his  duty;  and  he  would 
be  false  to  his  trust  if  it  did  not  arouse  him."  The 
Recorder  was  evidently  embarrassed,  and  not  at  all 
pleased,  but  saw  that  a  question  of  fact  was  raised 
by  Mr.  Choate,  and  that  this  question  of  fact  in 
volved  a  question  of  veracity.  This  manly  and  in 
dependent  stand  in  upholding  professional  inde 
pendence  induced  the  Recorder  to  hesitate  to  pro 
ceed  to  extreme  measures,  and  he  found  a  way  out 
of  the  difficulty,  by  reading  the  assemblage  of 
lawyers  and  others  present  a  homily  on  the  duty 
of  the  profession  with  respect  to  their  conduct  in 
the  presence  of  the  Court,  and  terminated  the  pro 
ceedings  by  taking  no  further  action. 

In  his  arguments  there  was  an  entire  absence  of 
technicality.  He  never  indulged  in  fine-spun 
theories,  or  relied  on  technicalities.  He  was  broad- 


144  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

minded;  he  took  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  law 
and  facts;  his  appeal  was  to  an  innate  sense  of 
justice,  to  reason  and  intelligence,  and  he  did  it 
in  plain,  simple,  concise  and  familiar  everyday 
phrases. 

Mr.  Choate's  supremacy  as  an  advocate  was  due 
to  the  lucidity  of  his  mind,  which  did  not  have  a 
trace  of  the  pettifogging  spirit.  He  mastered  his 
case,  then  swept  aside  the  minor  details,  and  tech 
nical  arguments,  and  directed  his  attention  to 
the  salient  points  and  broad  issues.  Luminous  ex 
position  gained  for  him  the  most  remarkable 
triumph  of  his  career — the  decision  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  that  taxation  of  incomes  was 
unconstitutional. 

Judge  Patterson,  of  the  Appellate  Division  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  described  him  as  having  so  many 
cases  he  was  sometimes  obliged  to  begin  an  argu 
ment  without  opportunity  to  repossess  himself  of 
the  facts  and  line  of  argument.  With  a  few  sen 
tences  of  a  formal  character,  at  the  same  time 
turning  over  the  leaves  of  his  brief,  and  slowly 
continuing  with  unimportant  observations,  evi 
dently  taking  an  opportunity  to  familiarize  himself 
with  the  case,  after  a  few  minutes  the  points  of  the 
case  would  seem  to  come  back  to  him,  and  he  would 
gradually  warm  up,  as  he  recalled  them,  and  make 
an  argument  of  really  great  service  to  the  Court. 

Before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  he 
was  arguing  once,  when  his  opponent  interrupted 
him  by  saying,  "Mr.  Choate,  you  are  arguing  di- 


THE  LAWYER  145 

rectly  contrary  to  what  is  stated  in  your  brief,"  to 
which  he  wittily  retorted,  to  the  great  amusement 
of  the  Court,  ' l  Oh,  well,  I  have  learned  a  great  deal 
about  this  case  since  that  brief  was  prepared. " 

It  is  said  that  when  he  presented  a  case  to  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  where  audiences  are 
attracted  by  the  presence  of  eminent  lawyers,  the 
room  was  almost  always  packed  with  listeners. 

Mrs.  Choate  happened  to  be  among  some  lawyers 
who  were  speaking  of  the  other  lawyers,  when  one 
of  them  remarked,  "then  there  is  Choate  who  runs 
on  greased  wheels  all  the  time." 

In  his  practice  before  the  Courts,  especially  in 
jury  trials,  he  found  a  sphere  of  action  entirely 
congenial  and  suited  exactly  to  his  natural  powers. 
He  delighted  in  forensic  contests ;  they  never  palled 
upon  him;  they  were  what  he  liked  best  of  all 
things.  When  he  reached  an  age  at  which  retire 
ment  from  active  practice  might  have  been  expected, 
he  was  asked  why,  after  his  successful  career,  he 
did  not  retire  on  his  laurels ;  his  ready  response  was, 
that  he  did  not  know  where  so  much  fun  was  to  be 
found  as  trying  cases  in  the  Courts.  If  he  got  fun 
out  of  it,  is  it  not  because  he  put  fun  into  it?  We 
were  conversing  about  litigation  in  the  Courts,  and 
the  opportunities  for  lawyers  in  that  direction,  and 
his  final  comment  was,  "I  don't  think  lawyers  get 
so  much  fun  out  of  it  as  we  used  to  do."  His  reply 
was  as  innocent  of  consciousness  of  his  fun-making 
power  as  that  of  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks  was  of  his 
attraction  as  a  preacher.  When,  after  preaching  to 


146  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

a  crowded  audience,  in  a  church  of  his  diocese,  which 
he  had  been  informed  was  sparsely  attended,  his 
comment  was  that  this  information  must  be  incor 
rect  for  he  saw  no  evidence  of  it. 

The  versatility  he  displayed  was  nowhere  more 
noticeable  than  in  the  different  branches  of  the  law 
his  large  practice  involved.  Although  he  undoubt 
edly  had  the  co-operation  of  able  advisers,  notably 
his  two  partners,  William  M.  Evarts  and  Charles  F. 
Southmayd,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  him 
to  master  the  law  and  facts  of  his  cases,  and  win 
his  triumphs  without  a  versatile  intellect,  capable  of 
appreciating,  and  assimilating,  a  great  variety  of 
subjects,  often  involving  complicated  and  difficult 
questions  of  business,  and  abstruse  points  of  law. 
But  this  valuable  assistance  by  no  means  covered 
his  entire  career  and  was  confined  rather  to  its 
earlier  stages. 

He  always  saw  humor  in  his  cases,  and  if  he  had 
indulged  all  he  discovered,  it  might  have  proven 
tiresome,  but  he  had  just  that  tactful  appreciation 
as  to  how  far  to  go  that  led  him  to  stop  at  exactly 
the  right  point. 

With  humor  as  a  weapon  he  was  a  most  formida 
ble  antagonist.  Thus  armed  few  could  successfully 
cope  with  him,  and  then  only  with  a  different  sort 
of  weapon.  To  some,  his  use  of  humor  was  at 
times  exasperating,  seeming  almost  to  be  taking 
undue  advantage  "with  malice  prepense."  For 
example,  after  he  had  goaded  one  of  his  adversaries 
to  almost  a  frenzy,  he  remarked  to  his  associate  as 


THE  LAWYER  147 

they  were  finishing  lunch,  and  the  Court  was  about 
to  resume  its  sitting :  *  '  Let  us  go  over  to  Court  and 
have  some  more  fun  with  the  opposing  counsel. " 
His  way  of  beginning  an  argument  was  frequently 
such  as  to  ridicule,  and  make  fun  of  the  case.  To  il 
lustrate,  he  was  arguing  a  case  against  the  Elevated 
Eoad  involving  its  right  to  erect  its  structure  on 
Sixth  Avenue.  He  began  thus:  "I  do  not  propose 
in  the  portion  of  the  argument  allotted  to  me  to 
follow  the  learned  counsel  for  the  defendant,  in 
seeking  for  the  details  of  the  physical — the  material 
— invasion  of  our  clients'  soil  and  buildings,  in 
which  they  have  unsuccessfully  groped  through 
our  coal  hole  in  search  of  our  supposed  cause  of 
action. ' ' 

It  is  difficult  to  convey,  without  the  surround 
ings,  the  tactful  way  in  which,  without  exposing 
himself  to  criticism,  he  could,  by  humor,  direct  a 
severe  counter-attack  called  forth  by  the  tactics  of 
his  opponent.  An  instance  of  this  is  his  summing 
up  in  a  case  in  which  he  represented  the  plaintiff 
against  a  bank.  The  president  of  the  bank,  whose 
face  wore  an  expression  of  superior  virtue,  was 
dressed  in  the  severely  simple  garb  of  a  Quaker, 
with  a  large  white  necktie.  He  was  accompanied 
by  the  secretary  of  the  bank,  an  alert  and  keen  man 
of  business.  The  defendant's  counsel  had  alluded 
to  the  high  character  of  these  two,  and  coupled  with 
it  a  reflection  on  the  plaintiff  as  a  sort  of  vampire. 
When  Mr.  Choate's  turn  came  he  alluded  to  this  in 
his  kindest  and  blandest  tone,  as. follows:  "Gentle- 


148  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

men,  you  have  heard  the  defendant's  counsel  com 
pare  the  plaintiff  to  a  vampire.  Did  you  ever  see 
a  vampire?  Do  you  know  what  a  vampire  is?  If 
not,  I  will  show  you  what  a  vampire  is.  Do  you 
see  that  old  gentleman  dressed  like  a  Quaker,  with 
a  large  white  necktie,  and  that  keen-witted  young 
man  seated  at  his  side?  Well,  they  are  vampires. 
Now  after  this  you  cannot  say  that  you  have  not 
seen  a  vampire.'' 

But  there  were  occasions  when  his  attempt  to 
make  fun  would  bring  him  to  grief.  No  witness 
could  easily  disturb  his  self-possession,  but,  at  least 
once,  he  was  as  nearly  disconcerted  as  it  was  pos 
sible  for  him  to  be. 

During  the  trial  of  a  well-known  will  case,  Mr. 
Felix  McClusky,  formerly  doorkeeper  of  the  House 
of  Kepresentatives,  was  testifying. 

"Now,  Mr.  McClusky,"  insinuatingly  asked  Mr. 
Choate,  "is  it  not  true  that  you  are  the  modern 
Munchausen?" 

"You  are  the  second  blackguard  that  has  asked 
me  that  within  a  week,"  roared  McClusky,  and  he 
got  no  further.  A  shout  of  laughter,  at  Mr.  Choate 's 
expense,  drowned  the  rest  of  the  retort. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  juries  and  judges  as  well 
should  have  been  unable  to  resist  the  charm  of  his 
simple  and  easy  eloquence,  so  informal,  of  such 
everyday  character,  so  free  from  flights  of  oratory, 
such  simple  and  direct  presentations  of  the  facts 
of  the  case,  lit  up  by  flashes  of  wit,  that  they  could 
not  help  being  interested  and  amused.  This  simple 


THE  LAWYER  149 

and  easy  style  carried  into  the  appellate  tribunals 
in  the  presentation  of  knotty  points  of  law  made  his 
propositions  appear  so  plain  and  indisputable  that 
the  vigorous  minds  of  experienced  judges  were  led 
unconsciously,  perhaps,  to  regard  the  case  as  by  no 
means  difficult,  and  almost  too  plain  to  require  much 
discussion.  After  hearing  him  on  such  occasions, 
the  casual  observer  might  think  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  make  as  good  an  argument,  and  perhaps 
a  better,  but  it  would  be  the  same  as  with  the  great 
verdict-getter,  Scarlett  (Lord  Abinger),  whose  suc 
cess  evoked  from  a  juryman  this  explanation  of  it : 
"No  wonder  he  gets  verdicts;  he  always  happens 
to  be  on  the  right  side. ' ' 

His  informal  methods,  ofttimes,  in  dealing  with 
pert  witnesses,  is  illustrated  by  the  query  he  put  to 
a  witness  who  had  responded  to  a  question  as  to 
how  he  remembered  so  well  events  that  happened  a 
long  time  ago  by  remarking,  "Oh,  I  am  older  than 
you  think  I  am,  Mr.  Choate. "  "  Indeed, ' '  he  replied, 
"now  just  tell  me  how  old  you  think  that  I  think 
you  are." 

Counsel,  too,  often  came  in  for  a  share  of  this 
byplay,  which  he  used  with  ludicrous  effect.  During 
a  lengthy  cross-examination  by  an  opponent — so 
much  so  that  everyone  was  wearied — Mr.  Choate 
sat  at  some  distance  chuckling  to  himself.  His 
opponent,  thinking  he  was  being  laughed  at,  in 
quired  rather  sharply:  "What  are  you  laughing 
at?"  "Oh,"  replied  Mr.  Choate,  "I  am  not  laugh 
ing  at  you  at  all ;  I  was  laughing  at  something  that 


150  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

happened  at  the  Union  League  Club  last  night,  when 
one  of  the  speakers  had  continued  so  long  that  the 
President  reminded  him  that  there  was  danger  of 
the  discussion  becoming  tedious." 

But,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Felix  McClusky,  wit 
nesses  were  sometimes  quite  equal  to  the  occasion, 
and  no  one  enjoyed  Mr.  Choate's  discomfiture  more 
than  himself.  In  an  informal  address  to  the  Bar 
of  Rochester,  New  York,  he  told  them  of  an  incident 
of  this.  He  said : 

"I  have  never  been  in  Rochester  before  for  pleas 
ure,  but  I  have  been  here  several  times  to  prostrate 
myself  before  the  judges  of  the  Appellate  Division, 
and  you  can  judge  how  far  from  pleasant  that  sen 
sation  is.  It  is  not  the  fault  of  your  committee  that 
I  have  never  been  here  before.  I  was  invited  on  two 
occasions,  but  at  these  times  I  was  afraid  to  come. 
I  had  met  with  rebuffs  and  reverses.  In  the  first 
instance  I  was  trying  a  will  case,  endeavoring  to 
uphold  the  will,  and  was  examining  an  old  lady,  who 
was  chief  witness  against  me.  She  testified  that  the 
testatrix  was  a  pal  and  crony  of  hers,  and  that  she 
had  talked  with  her  just  before  making  the  will, 
and  that  she  looked  as  if  she  did  not  understand 
what  she  was  doing.  The  witness  was  an  illiterate 
person,  and  I  tried,  by  questioning,  to  get  from  her 
just  how  she  looked.  Finally  I  said  to  her,  'Well, 
did  she  look  just  as  I  am  looking  at  you  now?' 
After  scanning  me  carefully  she  replied:  "  'Well, 
yes.'  " 


THE  LAWYER  151 

This  is  the  way  he  laughed  off  one  of  that  con 
siderable  class  of  individuals  who  use  every  loop 
hole  to  escape  payment  of  hard-earned  fees : 

A  well-known  clergyman  once  employed  Mr. 
Choate's  services  at  the  settlement  of  a  much  in 
volved  and  heavy  estate.  In  due  time  he  received 
his  bill.  The  client  appeared  in  a  few  days  with 
a  look  of  deprecation. 

"I  always  understood,  Mr.  Choate,"  he  objected, 
"that  you  gentlemen  of  the  Bar  were  not  in  the 
habit  of  charging  clergymen  for  your  services. " 

"You  are  much  in  error, "  returned  Mr.  Choate 
firmly,  "much  in  error.  You  look  for  your  reward 
in  the  next  world,  but  we  lawyers  have  to  get  ours 
in  this. " 

His  relations  with  his  brethren  of  the  Bar  were 
singularly  free  from  acrimony  or  animosity.  He 
was  not  one  to  create  animosity  or  to  cherish  it. 
It  was  difficult  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  him  because 
it  takes  two  to  make  a  quarrel,  and  he  was  not 
quarrelsome.  He  was  so  free  from  the  "peppery" 
quality,  so  easy-going,  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  arouse  in  him  anything  like  indignation.  I  never 
heard  of  him  losing  his  temper,  or  becoming  angry. 
His  practice  of  the  law  was  on  broad  and  generous 
lines.  Although  he  never  fought  a  case  on  techni 
calities,  it  is  probably  true  that,  when  hard  pressed, 
he  took  refuge  in  a  technicality  if  it  happened  his 
way.  I  do  not  think  he  went  out  of  his  way  to 
look  for  it.  He  was  fair,  although  firm,  and  he 
treated  his  adversary  in  a  broad-minded  and  open- 


152  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

handed  way.  He  despised  anything  like  sharp 
practice.  One  of  his  contemporaries,  opposed  to 
him,  was  a  prominent  Presbyterian,  of  whom  he 
remarked  that  "he  is  a  Christian  above  Twenty- 
third  Street.''  His  adversary  had  obtained  a  some 
what  questionable  advantage,  which  necessitated 
an  application  by  Mr.  Choate  to  the  Court  to  undo. 
After  the  matter  was  argued  the  judge  promptly 
decided  it  in  Mr.  Choate 's  favor,  whereupon  he 
remarked  quite  audibly,  "Well,  between  a  Pres 
byterian  and  a  Jew  I  want  you  to  give  me  a  Jew 
every  time." 

When  the  controversy  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
over  the  case  of  Dr.  Briggs,  charged  with  heresy, 
was  at  its  height,  one  of  the  counsel  opposed  to  Dr. 
Briggs  sent  him  an  octavo  volume,  containing  a 
report  of  the  proceedings.  This  lawyer  was  well 
known  for  his  large  practice  in  matters  of  re 
organization  of  corporations,  wrecked  by  financial 
mismanagement.  When  Mr.  Choate  met  the  lawyer 
he  courteously  acknowledged  his  gift,  but  added,  "I 
cannot  see  what  you  are  after,  unless  it  be  to  wreck 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  so  that  your  firm  may 
have  the  business  of  reorganizing  it." 

His  brethren  of  the  Bar,  notwithstanding  that 
beneath  his  geniality  there  was  a  certain  reserve 
and  consciousness  of  superiority  that  forbade  fa 
miliar  intercourse,  admired  his  ability,  and  were 
always  ready  to  acknowledge  it  by  the  bestowal  of 
any  honors  within  their  gift.  This  led  them  to  elect 
him  President  of  the  Bar  Association  at  an  earlier 


THE  LAWYER  153 

age  than  any  other  of  its  Presidents,  and  he  served 
during  1888  and  1889. 

His  ingenuity  early  in  his  career  in  extricating  a 
client  from  serious  inconvenience,  the  following 
incident,  as  related  to  me  by  him,  will  illustrate. 

"One  of  the  first  acts  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  to  ap 
point  James  Watson  Webb  Minister  to  a  foreign 
Court.  He  was  heavily  burdened  with  debt,  and 
two  or  three  days  before  he  sailed  he  came  into  my 
office  and  said  that  his  creditors  had  been  following 
him  up,  and  an  order  had  been  served  upon  him 
requiring  him  to  appear  before  the  Court  the  day 
following  his  intended  departure,  and  wanted  to 
know  what  he  could  do.  I  asked  him  if  he  owed 
the  money  and  he  said  he  did.  I  asked  him  what 
defense  he  had.  He  said  he  hadn't  any  unless  I 
could  make  up  one;  so  I  sent  for  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  It  stated  that  the  Federal 
Court  should  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  Am 
bassadors,  Ministers,  Consuls  and  other  represen 
tatives  in  foreign  countries.  So  I  appeared  at 
Court  and  put  in  an  affidavit  stating  the  fact  of 
General  Webb's  appointment  and  moved  to  vacate 
the  order  on  the  Constitutional  ground  already 
stated.  My  opponent  exclaimed,  'this  is  all  non 
sense,  the  Constitution  refers  to  foreign  Ambassa 
dors,  Ministers,  &c.,  and  not  to  those  appointed  by 
this  country  to  represent  it  in  foreign  countries.' 
'Well,'  I  replied,  'let  us  send  for  the  Constitution 
and  see  what  it  says,  and  you  will  find  that  you  and 


154  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

not  I  have  been  misleading  the  Court.'  So  the 
Constitution  was  sent  for  and  I  read  the  provision. 
'Here  we  have  it;  it  does  not  say  foreign  Ambassa 
dors,  Ministers,  &c.,  but  exactly  as  I  stated  it,  and 
General  Webb  is  a  Minister  to  a  foreign  country 
and  is  protected  by  the  Constitution.  The  judge 
held  that  the  language  of  the  Constitution  covered 
General  Webb's  case  and  the  order  was  conse 
quently  vacated,  and  he  sailed  for  Europe  leaving 
his  creditors  to  mourn  his  departure.  "This,"  Mr. 
Choate  said  to  me,  "was  my  first  great  Constitu 
tional  case." 

The  Income  Tax  cases  and  that  of  Neagle  who 
shot  Judge  Terry  in  defending  Mr.  Justice  Field 
show  his  mastery  of  Constitutional  questions;  the 
Bell  Telephone  cases  of  patent  law;  the  Leland  Stan 
ford  and  Stewart  will  cases  of  testamentary  law; 
the  Behring  Sea  case  of  international  law ;  the  cases 
of  Hutchinson  and  Loubat  against  the  New  York 
Stock  Exchange,  of  the  law  of  membership  in  un 
incorporated  associations;  the  Fitz-John  Porter 
case  of  martial  law;  the  case  of  the  Eepublic  against 
the  Aurania,  and  his  exposition  before  the  second 
Hague  Conference  of  "immunity  of  private  prop 
erty  at  sea"  his  grasp  of  admiralty  law;  the  Gilbert 
Elevated  Railway  cases  involving  the  comparatively 
new  and  little  explored  subject  of  rights  of  adja 
cent  owners  in  public  streets,  and  a  multitude  of 
cases  involving  commercial  law;  the  law  of  do 
mestic  relations  and  of  injuries  to  persons  and 


THE  LAWYER  155 

property,  exhibit  him  as  a  master  in  widely  different 
departments  of  jurisprudence. 

In  the  General  Fitz-John  Porter  case,  where  he 
succeeded  in  reversing  a  finding  of  guilty  pro 
nounced  against  that  officer  sixteen  years  before, 
the  Adjutant-General  appeared  in  full  regimentals, 
with  cocked-hat,  epaulets  and  spurs,  and  indulged 
in  an  argument  consuming  forty-eight  hours,  in 
which  he  dealt  mainly  with  army  regulations  which, 
it  was  said,  "  veteran  army  officers  knew  better  than 
their  prayers. "  Mr.  Choate,  in  his  inimitable 
manner  of  childlike  simplicity,  began  his  argument 
by  saying:  "We  have  listened  with  patience  to 
the  remarks  of  the  distinguished  Adjutant-General 
of  the  United  States  Army.  His  long  argument 
reminds  me  of  the  advice  once  given  to  the  grad 
uating  class  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Tennes 
see:  'Now,  boys,  remember  one  thing,  do  not  make 
long  prayers ;  always  remember  that  the  Lord  knows 
something.'  " 

In  the  interesting  sketches  of  his  kinsman,  Rufus 
Choate,  of  his  friend,  James  C.  Carter,  and  of  his 
partner,  Mr.  Southmayd,  and  those  relating  to  the 
law  and  the  Courts,  there  is  excellent  evidence  of 
culture,  literary  gift  and  versatility  as  applied  to 
lawyers  and  the  law,  in  expressing  just  and  ac 
curate  appreciation  of  individuals,  and  in  the 
treatment  of  strictly  legal  themes. 

In  referring  to  his  cases,  Mr.  Choate  remarked 
to  me  that  the  most  important  case  and  the  biggest 
victory  he  ever  had  was  in  the  Fitz-John  Porter 


156  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

case.  I  was  somewhat  surprised  at  this,  because 
there  were  a  number  of  other  cases,  including  the 
Income  Tax  case,  which  loomed  up  into  greater  im 
portance  in  public  estimation,  and  I  said  as  much 
to  him.  His  explanation  was  that  it  was  exceed 
ingly  difficult  because  it  not  only  involved  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  reputation  of  a  distinguished 
General  of  the  Union  Armies,  but  the  reversal,  after 
a  lapse  of  sixteen  years,  of  the  finding  of  a  Court 
Martial,  which,  at  the  time,  met  with  public  ap 
proval  and,  added  to  this,  was  the  difficulty  in 
obtaining  the  evidence  necessary  to  secure  it. 
Furthermore,  there  was  the  prejudice  that  naturally 
existed  in  the  mind  of  the  Court  convened  to  hear 
the  case,  in  favor  of  the  impartiality  and  carefully 
considered  judgment  of  the  previous  tribunal.  The 
case  was  undoubtedly  one  of  very  great  importance, 
but  quite  likely  Mr.  Choate  attached  more  import 
ance  to  it  because  it  was  one  of  his  early  triumphs 
and  had  aroused  a  feeling  of  sentiment,  which 
perhaps  influenced  his  judgment. 

The  firm  into  whose  employ  Mr.  Choate  entered 
was  conspicuous  for  eminence  and  ability,  having 
been  founded  long  before  Mr.  Evarts  came  to  the 
Bar  by  J.  Prescott  Hall,  a  former  Attorney  General 
of  the  State,  distinguished  as  a  remarkably  success 
ful  practitioner.  He  was  joined  by  Charles  E. 
Butler  who  began  practice  in  Virginia.  His  re 
moval  to  New  York  and  partnership  with  Mr.  Hall 
resulted  in  attracting  important  business  from 
which  flowed  a  large  volume  of  professional  em- 


THE  LAWYER  157 

ployment.  With  these  successful  practitioners 
William  M.  Evarts,  who  graduated  from  Yale  in 
1837,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  about  1840,  be 
came  associated  and  brought,  even  then,  to  the  firm 
of  Hall,  Butler  &  Evarts  ability  and  learning  of  a 
high  order,  destined,  ultimately,  to  place  him  at  the 
head  of  the  New  York  Bar  and  in  the  front  rank 
of  American  lawyers.  Upon  Mr.  HalPs  retirement 
the  commanding  position  of  this  firm  was  not  only 
maintained,  but  materially  advanced,  by  the  ad 
mission  of  Charles  F.  Southmayd,  one  of  the  ablest, 
most  learned,  shrewd,  acute  and  practical  counselors 
of  his  time.  In  him  the  firm  found  an  associate 
who,  appearing  but  rarely  in  the  Courts,  devoted  his 
fine  powers  to  office  business  and,  in  so  doing, 
gathered  about  the  firm  leaders  of  finance  in  New 
York,  and  important  connections  in  the  financial 
centers  of  Europe.  The  firm  of  Butler,  Evarts  & 
Southmayd  occupied  probably  the  first  place  at  the 
New  York  Bar.  It  was  with  this  valuable  asso 
ciation  that  Mr.  Choate  became  identified  as  an 
employee  and,  after  four  years,  as  a  partner. 

The  retirement  of  Mr.  Charles  E.  Butler  caused 
a  change  in  the  name  of  the  firm  to  Evarts,  South 
mayd  &  Choate.  A  number  of  able  lawyers  of  a 
younger  generation  were,  from  time  to  time,  ad 
mitted  to  partnership  in  the  firm  and  one  of  them, 
Mr.  Charles  C.  Beaman,  was  destined  to  occupy  a 
prominent  place  in  his  profession  and  in  the  social 
life  of  which  it  was  the  center.  He  had  obtained 
wide  experience  and  extensive  acquaintance  while 


158  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

private  secretary  for  Senator  Sumner  of  Massa 
chusetts  and,  later,  as  counsel  for  claimants  in  the 
distribution  of  the  award  secured  by  Mr.  Evarts 
as  counsel  for  the  United  States  before  the  Geneva 
Arbitration  of  the  Alabama  claims. 

At  scarcely  sixty  years  of  age,  when  in  his  prime 
and  the  height  of  his  power  as  a  legal  adviser,  Mr. 
Southmayd,  wearied  with  the  heat  and  burden  of  the 
day,  and  with  a  large  competency,  retired  from  the 
firm. 

Mr.  Southmayd  lived  for  nearly  twenty-seven 
years  after  his  retirement,  and  died  at  the  advanced 
age  of  nearly  eighty-seven  years.  Among  Mr. 
Choate's  addresses  of  a  biographical  nature  there  is 
none  more  discriminating  or  characterized  by  a  more 
genuine  feeling  of  affection  than  his  memorial  of 
Mr.  Southmayd  delivered  before  the  Association  of 
the  Bar  in  1912.  It  is  well  worthy  of  a  prominent 
place  among  his  literary  productions  as  a  character 
sketch  of  a  unique  personality — of  a  type  no  longer 
seen — and  an  admirable  specimen  of  Mr.  Choate's 
composition  at  its  best.  Of  Mr.  Southmayd  he  says : 

"As  he  was  one  of  the  great  lawyers  of  his  time 
and  commanded  the  unbounded  confidence  and 
esteem  of  all  the  leaders  of  the  profession,  we  may 
well  pause  for  a  few  minutes  to  contemplate  his 
career  and  to  consider  the  great  changes  which  it 
had  witnessed,  although  to  the  man  of  to-day  he 
is  only  a  name  and  hardly  that.  But  some  of  us 
can  remember  when  he  was  the  leading  figure  in 


CHARLES  F.  SOUTHMAYD 


THE  LAWYER  159 

everything  that  involved  sound  learning  and  tech 
nical  skill  in  the  law.  He  came  of  good  old  New 
England  stock,  the  first  emigrants  of  the  name 
having  landed  at  Salem,  and  I  find  men  of  his  name, 
which  is  an  unusual  one,  graduating  at  Harvard  and 
Yale  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries, 
with  whom  he  was  doubtless  connected.  Through 
his  mother  he  was  proud  to  trace  a  near  connection 
with  the  Gouverneurs,  the  Ogdens,  the  Kembles  and 
the  Kearneys,  although  he  was  the  last  man  to  ever 
speak  of  such  things.  He  was  baptized  in  St.  John's 
Chapel,  which  was  very  near  his  father's  residence 
on  Laight  Street  near  Varick,  Nicholas  G.  Ogden 
and  Edward  F.  Hammeken  being  his  godfathers, 
and  he  always  claimed  that  thereby  he  had  become 
incorporated  into  the  Church  and  was  entitled  to 
good  standing  therein  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  His 
school  days,  which  were  spent  at  a  private  school, 
seem  not  to  have  been  much  longer  than  Benjamin 
Franklin's  in  Boston;  for,  at  the  unripe  age  of 
twelve  and  a  half,  his  teacher  announced  to  his 
astonished  father  that  he  had  taught  the  boy  all 
that  he  knew  and  he  had  thoroughly  mastered  it,  and 
what  to  do  with  him  then  was  the  question.  Happily, 
Providence  was  on  the  lookout  for  him.  Although 
he  then  actually  began  the  study  of  the  law  at  a 
very  tender  age  he  found  it  most  congenial  and 
buckled  down  to  it  in  earnest. 

"He  seems  to  have  had  no  tuition,  outside  the 
office  at  any  rate,  except  what  he  may  have  got  by 
attending  Court;  but  he  had  wonderful  powers  of 


160  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

concentration,  and  made  such  progress,  and  so 
rapidly  mastered  the  law  that,  at  seventeen,  he 
came  to  be  known  in  the  office  as  the  ' Chancellor*; 
and  the  story  goes  that  when  clients  called  they  were 
apt  to  find  his  masters  in  the  outer  office  discussing 
public  questions,  and  they  would  say:  'Do  you 
want  to  talk  politics?  Here  we  are.  But  if  you've 
come  on  law  business  you  will  find  the  Chancellor 
inside.'  .  .  . 

"In  1837,  when  Southmayd,  as  a  boy,  began  his 
studies,  and  even  in  1841,  when  he  bore  the  well- 
earned  title  of  the  'Chancellor,'  there  were  no  such 
floods  of  books  as  those  in  which  the  law  itself  is 
now  thoroughly  drowned;  there  were  but  few  New 
York  reports,  and  still  fewer  American  textbooks; 
and  it  was  quite  practicable  for  a  vigorous  young 
mind  to  master  all  the  leading  cases  that  had  been 
decided  here,  and  that  is  exactly  what  Southmayd 
did.  .  .  . 

"In  connection  with  his  studious  reading  and 
work  in  the  office,  he  was  a  frequent  attendant  upon 
the  Courts,  and  made  himself  a  finished  lawyer.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  Coke  upon  Littleton  and  Black- 
stone  had  come  in  for  a  share  of  his  attention ;  and 
we  may  be  sure  that  he  knew  much  of  Kent's  Com 
mentaries  by  heart,  the  second  edition  being  then 
available  and  being,  as  it  were,  a  complete  review 
of  his  studies  up  to  date.  Of  equity  he  early  be 
came  a  master,  for  his  mind  was  naturally  adapted 
to  its  principles — so  fair,  so  just,  so  altogether 
reasonable  and  undisturbed  by  the  technicalities 


THE  LAWYER  161 

that  were  still  found  so  embarrassing  in  the  common 
law.  .  .  . 

"A  great  commercial  case  in  which,  while  yet 
unknown  to  fame,  he  was  deeply  engaged  with 
Judge  Alexander  S.  Johnson,  and  of  which  I  feel 
certain  that  he  bore  the  brunt,  involved  many  in 
tricate  and  complicated  questions  of  fact  and  law, 
and  occupied  several  years,  being  contested  by 
Johnson  and  Southmayd  on  one  side,  and  by  Messrs. 
Butler  and  Evarts  on  the  other.  Not  long  after 
it  was  finished,  Mr.  Johnson  was  elected  to  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  and  this  left  Mr.  Southmayd  open  to 
other  engagements,  an  opportunity  of  which  Butler 
and  Evarts,  having  long  observed,  in  the  litigation 
which  he  had  been  conducting  against  them,  his 
great  power  of  labor,  his  learning,  skill  and  tenacity 
of  purpose,  quickly  availed  themselves  by  inviting 
him  to  join  them  on  terms  which  were  very  soon 
made  equal.  Thus,  in  1851,  was  formed  the  firm 
of  Butler,  Evarts  &  Southmayd  which,  with  various 
successions,  has  continued  until  this  day.  .  .  . 

"During  the  whole  period  of  his  connection  with 
it,  until  he  retired  at  the  age  of  sixty  in  1884,  Mr. 
Southmayd  was  the  mainstay  of  the  whole  concern. 
If  there  was  a  knotty  point  of  law  or  practice  to  be 
decided,  a  difficult  will,  trust  or  contract  to  be 
drawn,  an  important  opinion  to  be  prepared,  it 
was  almost  always  left  to  him,  and  he  always  suc 
ceeded — he  would  never  give  in  till  the  problem  was 
solved;  and  as  he  was  known  to  be  always  at  his 
desk,  clients  at  all  hours  flocked  about  him  for 


162  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

advice,  which  is,  I  think,  the  most  responsible  and 
difficult  part  of  our  whole  professional  work.  And 
then,  too,  in  consultation  he  was  invaluable.  You 
can  imagine  what  a  resource  it  was  to  Mr.  Evarts 
or  to  myself,  coming  down  from  Court  at  the  close 
of  a  protracted  and  exciting  day,  to  talk  over  with 
him  puzzling  and  unexpected  questions  that  had 
arisen,  and  get  the  benefit  of  his  cool  and  quiet 
judgment. 

"He  hated  to  go  to  Court  himself,  and  only  went 
very  rarely,  on  great  cases  which  had  arisen  out 
of  important  opinions  given  by  himself,  which  it 
was  vital  to  the  interest  of  his  clients,  who  had  acted 
upon  them,  to  sustain.  .  .  . 

"In  truth,  Mr.  Southmayd  had  a  perfect  genius 
for  the  law,  and  there  was  no  department  of  it  to 
which  he  was  not  fully  equal,  except  only  trial  by 
jury,  for  which  I  think  he  cherished  a  secret  dis 
trust.  At  any  rate,  he  never  cultivated  any  of  the 
forensic  arts  which  came  into  play  in  jury  trials,  and 
never  could  have  got  an  impossible  verdict.  .  .  . 

"I  do  not  believe  that  Mr.  Southmayd  ever  under 
took  the  trial  of  a  jury  case,  where  he  would  have 
been  indeed  a  fish  out  of  water.  But,  in  all  legal 
questions  he  was  supreme,  and  no  lawyer  in  this 
city  ever  enjoyed  more  absolutely  the  confidence  of 
his  clients.  As  the  business  grew  and  great  ques 
tions,  interstate  and  international,  arose,  his  pro 
fessional  reputation  rose  higher  and  higher,  until, 
as  I  have  heard,  the  bankers  of  Holland  would  not 
take  an  issue  of  bonds  under  a  railroad  mortgage 


THE  LAWYER  163 

unless  Southmayd  said  it  was  all  right,  and  the 
great  lawyers  of  the  city  sought  his  opinion  upon 
questions  that  arose  in  their  own  practice. 

"With  many  eccentricities,  as  will  presently 
appear,  he  had  an  absolutely  honest  and  straight 
mind,  and  with  unerring  instinct  went  right  to  the 
root  of  the  matter  submitted,  stripped  off  every 
thing  that  was  superfluous  and  irrelevant,  and  de 
cided  it  upon  some  impregnable  proposition  of  law. 

"As  a  draftsman  in  his  best  days  he  was,  I  think, 
without  an  equal.  He  seemed  to  be  able  to  provide 
for  every  possible  contingency,  so  keen  and  acute, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  so  far  reaching  was  his 
mental  vision.  But,  in  his  later  years,  this  habit 
grew  upon  him  to  an  almost  disabling  extent.  So 
that  sometimes  you  had  to  follow  him  through  sen 
tences  whole  pages  long  in  his  effort  to  provide  for 
contingencies  that  would  probably  never  happen. 

"In  addition  to  great  learning  and  inexhaustible 
power  of  labor,  untiring  patience  and  common  sense, 
he  had  the  great  and  unspeakable  gift  of  character, 
which  is  more  than  all  the  rest  combined  in  the 
formation  of  a  great  lawyer,  stooping  to  nothing, 
tolerating  nothing  small  or  mean  or  low,  main 
taining  always  the  highest  standard  of  personal  and 
professional  conduct,  and  putting  everything  to  the 
test  of  his  own  good  and  clear  conscience. 

"It  was  in  recognition  of  his  eminent  position  at 
the  Bar  and  great  learning  that  Yale  University, 
in  1884,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  LL.D., 
which  he  most  highly  appreciated. 


164  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"He  uniformly  refused,  for  himself  and  for  the 
firm,  to  take  any  pecuniary  interest  in  any  matter 
that  was  intrusted  to  his  or  their  professional 
charge,  believing  that  it  tended  to  professional  de 
generation,  and  that  clients  could  only  be  properly 
served  by  lawyers  who  had  no  personal  interest  in 
the  matter  involved  to  advance  or  protect.  Of  con 
tingent  fees  in  any  form  he  had  a  special  horror, 
and  regarded  the  change  of  statute  which  made 
them  possible  as  a  serious  damage  to  the  pro 
fession,  and  the  judicial  iniquities,  the  exposure  of 
which  led  to  the  formation  of  this  Association,  made 
him  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  and  zealous  of  its 
original  members.  The  Bar  Association,  in  fact, 
never  had  or  lost  a  member  who  reflected  upon  it 
greater  honor.  If  Mr.  Evarts  were  alive  to-day, 
I  am  sure  he  would  join  with  me  in  declaring 
that  much  of  our  professional  success  and  repute 
was  due  to  his  support,  his  assistance,  his  inspira 
tion. 

"For  myself,  I  can  give  no  better  illustration  of 
this  than  in  the  celebrated  Income  Tax  case,  in 
which  was  accomplished  what  was  at  the  time  re 
garded,  at  home  and  abroad,  as  the  almost  impos 
sible  achievement  of  overthrowing,  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  entire  scheme  of  an  Income  Tax  embodied 
in  an  Act  of  Congress.  I  might  almost  say  with 
entire  truth  that  it  was  Southmayd,  who  never  went 
near  the  Court,  who  won  the  case.  He  was  then 
seventy  years  old ;  he  had  retired  from  practice  ten 
years  before,  and  all  that  time  he  had  refrained 


THE  LAWYER  165 

from  any  legal  labor.  In  fact,  as  he  claimed,  he  had 
ceased  to  be  an  attorney  at  law,  and  when  he  had 
occasion  to  put  his  name  to  a  brief,  he  always  signed 
1  Charles  F.  Southmayd  in  person.' 

"What  he  regarded  as  the  iniquity  of  the  Income 
Tax  aroused  all  his  old-time  energy.  By  this  time 
he  had  an  ample  income  of  his  own  which  was 
affected,  and  he  had  a  strong  idea  of  the  right  of 
property  being  at  the  foundation  of  civilized  gov 
ernment.  Other  men  have  five  senses,  but  he  had 
a  sixth — the  sense  of  property — very  keen  and  very 
powerful;  and  he  also  had  an  abiding  allegiance  to 
the  Constitution,  under  which  the  country  had  so 
long  prospered,  and  an  abhorrence  of  any  violation 
of  it.  So,  when  he  heard  that  I  was  to  be  in  the 
case,  he  volunteered  to  prepare  a  brief,  which 
proved,  when  completed,  to  be  the  keystone  of  the 
whole  argument,  and,  indeed,  of  the  decision  which 
overthrew  the  Act  of  Congress.  .  .  . 

"It  was  his  masterful  brief  that  drove  the  enter 
ing  wedge  which  by  its  cleavage  demolished  the  Act, 
while  the  rest  of  us  who  appeared  in  Court,  and 
argued  the  cause  to  its  final  conclusions,  on  the 
foundation  which  he  had  laid,  won  an  undue  share 
of  the  glory.  I  have  heard  from  the  clerk's  office 
that  all  the  judges  called  for  extra  copies  of  his 
brief,  but  for  none  of  the  others. 

"Mr.  Southmayd  retired  from  practice  at  sixty, 
being  afraid,  as  he  told  me  long  afterward,  that  if 
he  continued,  he  might  make  some  mistake,  which 
I  really  believe  that  up  to  that  time  he  had  not  done 


166  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

— at  any  rate  he  had  made  none  that  anybody  else 
had  found  out. 

"His  professional  life  from  the  beginning  to  end 
had  been  a  signal  success,  and  had  brought  him 
ample  rewards.  But  necessarily,  from  the  way  in 
which  it  was  begun  and  continued,  it  had  cut  him 
off  from  everything  else.  Beginning  the  study  of 
it  at  twelve,  and  never  relaxing  the  earnest  pursuit 
of  it,  he  lost  his  youth  altogether,  an  irreparable 
loss  to  any  man  in  any  walk  of  life.  Outside  of  the 
law,  he  had  almost  no  interests — none  of  those 
bright  gleams  and  dreams  and  illusions  of  boyhood 
which,  for  most  of  us,  sparkle  at  the  threshold,  and 
brighten  all  the  rest  of  our  lives,  lighten  our  burdens 
and  help  us  to  forget  our  woes — none  of  those  joyful 
reminiscences  and  early  friendships  that  light  us  on 
our  way.  Withdrawn  from  social  life,  he  had  but 
few  friends,  but  with  them  he  was  always  so  genial 
and  gentle  that  it  was  ever  a  thousand  pities  that 
he  hadn't  a  hundred  times  as  many.  Shut  into  the 
deep  and  narrow  canyon  of  professional  study  and 
labor,  he  hardly  knew  what  was  going  on  outside 
of  it,  and  had  no  other  interest,  no  hobby,  no  possi 
bility  or  capacity  for  sport.  But  he  did  enjoy  his 
work,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  the  keenest  pro 
fessional  sportsman  ever  gets  half  as  much  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  as  he  did  out  of  that. 

"Mr.  Southmayd  was  never  married,  and  led  a 
truly  solitary  life.  Doubtless  in  his  earlier  years 
he  must  have  had  some  romantic  sensations  and 
experiences  and,  perhaps,  disappointments.  But,  as 


THE  LAWYER  167 

the  rolling  stream  of  Time  bore  him  along,  as  the 
walls  of  his  narrow  life  began  to  close  in  upon  him, 
and  his  natural  love  of  accumulation  grew,  he 
seemed  more  and  more  to  regard  women  as  pain 
fully  expensive  luxuries  which  might  as  well  be 
dispensed  with.  'Your  women  folks  will  be  the 
ruin  of  you  yet,'  he  used  to  say  to  me  in  a  half- 
joking,  half-serious  way.  Of  course  there  was 
nothing  personal  intended.  It  was  merely  a  con 
crete  expression  of  his  general  and  abstract  dread 
of  cost.  But  I  was  bound  to  defend  my  own  fire 
side,  and  always  answered  him  in  kind  in  some  way, 
which  pleased  him  mightily. 

"His  later  life  was  full  of  apprehensions.  When 
a  man  retires  at  sixty  from  very  active  practice, 
with  no  native  resources  to  fall  back  upon,  no  hobby 
to  ride,  no  studies  to  pursue,  his  thoughts  neces 
sarily  turn  in  upon  himself  and  prey  upon  his  inner 
consciousness,  and  so  it  was  with  him.  No  sooner 
was  one  apprehension  dispelled,  than  others  equally 
groundless  came  in  various  and  shifting  forms — 
apprehensions  for  his  health  and  life,  for  his  prop 
erty  and,  at  last,  even  for  his  personal  liberty.  The 
ever-growing  list  of  misdemeanors,  created  by 
statute,  disturbed  him,  and  he  even  employed 
counsel  to  watch  for  such  statutes  introduced  into 
the  Legislature — man-traps,  as  he  called  them — lest 
he  might,  without  knowing  it,  commit  offenses  which 
might  involve  the  penalty  of  imprisonment. 

"Thus,  as  his  professional  life  began  too  early, 
so  it  ended  too  early  and  too  abruptly,  and  he  lost 


168  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  great  satisfaction  of  continuing  to  the  end 
his  usefulness  to  society  which  had  once  been  so 
great. 

"Of  course,  he  was  always  a  laudator  temporis 
acti.  Never  changing  (and  I  hardly  observed  any 
change  in  his  appearance,  his  dress,  his  manners  or 
mode  of  conversation  from  the  time  I  first  knew  him 
in  1855),  he  hardly  realized  that  the  world  was 
changing  all  the  time  as  it  rushed  by  him.  The 
judges  of  to-day  he  compared  with  Chancellor  Kent, 
and  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  with  Justice  Nelson  and 
Judge  Oakley,  and  the  lawyers  of  to-day  with  Daniel 
Lord,  George  Wood,  Charles  0 'Conor  and  William 
Curtis  Noyes.  He  couldn't  at  all  keep  pace  with 
the  hustle  and  bustle  of  modern  New  York,  or  with 
the  rapidly  changing  customs  and  habits  of  the 
profession. 

"He  was  really  the  most  conservative  man  I  ever 
knew,  and,  of  course,  prejudices  grew  upon  him  as 
years  rolled  on.  Modern  improvements  had  no 
charms  for  him,  but  his  aversion  to  new  methods 
was  always  mingled  with  much  pleasantry,  which 
indicated  a  consciousness  in  himself  of  falling  be 
hind  the  age.  Perhaps  no  better  illustration  of  this 
was  presented  than  in  his  attitude  toward  new 
modes  of  locomotion  and  travel,  as  they  came  press 
ing  fast  upon  each  other.  His  pet  aversion  was  the 
elevated  railroad,  and  it  was  his  favorite  boast,  to 
his  dying  day,  that  he  had  never  traveled  upon  it. 
When  it  was  first  constructed,  he  declared  that  he 
would  never  go  upon  it  until  the  Court  of  Appeals 


THE  LAWYER  169 

should  decide  that  its  owners  were  bound  to  pay 
damages  to  the  abutting  property  owners.  The 
failure  to  provide  expressly  for  this  in  the  original 
charter  shocked  that  keen  sense  of  property  of 
which  I  have  spoken.  Well,  it  took  long  years  of 
severe  litigation  to  establish  this  liability,  and  in 
the  meantime  he  had  moved  out  of  Ninth  Street, 
where  he  had  lived  for  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
giving  the  quaint  reason  for  moving  that  death 
had  visited  every  house  but  his  in  the  block. 

"But,  at  last,  the  Court  of  Appeals  decided,  as 
he  thought  they  ought,  that  such  liability  was  neces 
sarily  implied  in  the  Act,  though  not  expressed,  and 
so  compelled  the  company  to  pay  many  millions  of 
dollars  in  damages  to  the  abutting  owners.  Mean 
while,  he  had  traveled  daily  all  the  long  journey  of 
four  miles  from  Forty-seventh  Street  to  the  office 
in  the  Sixth  Avenue  surface  cars ;  and  I  said  to  him : 
'Come,  now,  the  Court  has  decided  as  you  wanted 
them  to;  get  on  the  elevated  road  with  me  and 
shorten  your  journey  home  by  half  an  hour.'  'No,' 
said  he,  'it's  a  fraud,  anyway,  and  I  never  will  ride 
on  it,'  and  he  never  did,  but  continued  his  slow 
transit  by  the  Sixth  Avenue  surface  cars.  But  at 
last  this  came  to  an  end.  For  one  cold  November 
day  as  he  entered  the  car,  seeing  something  unusual 
under  the  seat,  he  asked  the  conductor  what  it  was, 
and  being  answered  'a  stove,'  he  stopped  the  car  and 
quit  the  line:  'Never  could  ride  with  a  stove  in  the 
car.'  He  then  took  refuge  in  the  Fourth  Avenue 
car,  which  he  liked  much  better :  'Better  cars,  better 


170  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

air,  better  people.'  But  this  didn't  last  very  long, 
for  one  day,  standing  on  the  corner  awaiting  a  car, 
he  saw  one  coming  without  any  horses — an  electric 
motor — and  that  he  could  not  stand. 

"He  never  could  tolerate  motors — never  once 
rode  in  an  automobile — thought  severe  penalties 
ought  to  be  visited  upon  their  owners.  And  thus, 
at  last,  he  was  driven  to  take  refuge  in  cabs,  and 
here,  too,  his  eccentricity  was  made  manifest,  for 
although  he  had  an  excellent  pair  of  horses,  coach 
man  and  carriage  of  his  own,  he  never  would  drive 
up  and  down  in  it.  And  when  I  asked  him  why 
not,  he  said  because  of  the  common  law  rule  of 
respondeat  superior.  'If  I  hire  a  cab  and  an  ac 
cident  happens,  I  incur  no  liability.  That  falls  upon 
the  owner.' 

"His  quaintness  was  always  tinged  with  a  sense 
of  humor.  Having  laid  the  foundation  of  his  own 
ample  fortune  in  strict  economy  and  unflagging  in 
dustry,  he  used  to  say  that  every  young  lawyer 
ought  to  begin  by  laying  aside  all  of  his  professional 
income,  which  he  himself  had  been  so  situated  as  to 
be  able  pretty  nearly  to  do.  'But,'  said  I,  'you 
surely  don't  mean  the  whole  of  it.  Wouldn't  half 
do?  The  man  must  live.'  'Oh,  that  doesn't  fol 
low,'  said  he;  'if  he'll  only  follow  my  rule,  he 
will  soon  be  able  to  live  upon  the  income  of  his 
income.' 

"I  think  one  could  have  almost  told  his  calling 
as  he  walked  the  streets — a  solicitor  laden  with 
many  precious  secrets,  Matthew  Arnold,  who  made 


THE  LAWYER  171 

his  acquaintance  the  Summer  that  he  spent  in  Stock- 
bridge,  was  perfectly  delighted  with  him,  and  greatly 
enjoyed  his  company,  saying  that  he  reminded  him 
for  all  the  world  of  an  old-fashioned  English  solic 
itor  dug  out  of  Dickens  or  Trollope  or  Thackeray, 
and  he  certainly  was  all  that,  with  a  vast  deal  of 
skill  and  learning  besides.  In  the  quiet  confidences 
of  the  office,  he  was  quite  a  match  for  Evarts  in 
quickness  and  repartee,  and  it  was  a  rare  treat  for 
the  youngsters,  in  the  occasional  intervals  when 
there  was  nothing  more  serious  to  do,  to  hear  them 
chaffing  each  other  in  a  very  merry  trim.  .  .  . 

"His  will,  made  in  August,  1899,  is  not  only 
holographic,  but  almost  autobiographic  in  its  full 
ness  and  particularity.  Written  in  his  own  hand  on 
fifty-seven  pages  of  foolscap  paper,  it  sets  forth 
with  extreme  particularity  many  incidents  of  his 
life,  and  recalls  and  provides  handsomely  for  the 
children  of  his  deceased  partners;  remembers  even 
his  remote  relatives,  such  as  daughters  of  deceased 
cousins,  second  cousins,  as  he  rates  it,  and  second  or 
third  cousins  or  otherwise,  as  the  proper  rating  may 
properly  be,  and  leaves  considerable  legacies  to  the 
New  York  Law  Institute  and  to  the  Association  of 
the  Bar  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

"Take  him  for  all  in  all,  we  ne'er  shall  look  upon 
his  like  again — a  great  lawyer — an  absolutely  unique 
character — an  honor  to  our  profession  for  sixty 
years.  I  owe  him  more  than  I  can  tell,  and  am 
glad  to  transmit  to  those  who  did  not  know  him, 
this  quite  imperfect  picture  of  the  man."  .  .  . 


172  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

With  these  eminent  men,  and  those  from  time  to 
time  associated  with  them  as  junior  partners,  the 
firm  was  generally  composed  of  not  less  than  six  or 
seven  members.  Here  Mr.  Choate  found  his  great 
opportunity  and  won  renown. 

For  the  first  ten  years  of  his  association  with  Mr. 
Evarts  he  was  busied  assisting  him  in  the  prepara 
tion  and  trial  of  cases.  Mr.  Evarts  was  constantly 
in  Court,  in  jury  trials  or  equity  cases  or  before 
appellate  tribunals.  Mr.  Choate 's  duty  was  the 
preparation  of  these  cases  for  trial.  Of  course,  this 
was  done,  as  in  all  similar  instances,  after  consulta 
tion  between  them,  in  which  Mr.  Evarts  laid  out  the 
plan  of  campaign  and  Mr.  Choate  worked  out  its 
details.  It  would  have  been  difficult  to  find  two 
minds  better  constituted  to  get  at  the  merits  of  a 
case  and  the  vital  points  of  law  controlling  it.  Mr. 
Evarts  was  the  great  lawyer  deeply  versed  in  legal 
knowledge.  Mr.  Choate,  his  junior,  could  furnish 
useful  suggestions  and  devote  attention  to  the  de 
tails  of  preparation  which  might  almost  be  said  to 
win  the  case  if  it  were  possible  to  win  it.  Undoubt 
edly,  it  was  in  the  work  of  preparation  primarily 
that  the  battle  was  lost  or  won,  and  the  responsi 
bility  for  preparation  belonged  to  Mr.  Choate.  It 
was  frequently  the  case,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
in  the  large  number  of  cases  which  Mr.  Evarts  had 
to  try  and  argue  that  at  times  he  would  be  obliged 
to  go  into  the  trial  of  a  case  with  little  opportunity 
to  know  what  the  case  was  about,  except  that  general 
knowledge  he  had  acquired  from  the  fact  that  the 


As  JUNIOR  PARTNER  OF 
BUTLER,  EVARTS  AND  SOUTHMAYD 


THE  LAWYER  173 

case  was  in  his  office  and  that  he  was  expected  to 
try  it.  In  subsequent  years  Mr.  Choate  's  experience 
was  similar  and,  in  referring  to  it,  he  alluded  to  Mr. 
Evarts'  experience.  "At  times,"  he  said  to  me, 
"Mr.  Evarts  would  have  to  go  into  Court  without 
any  preparation.  I  would  be  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  case  and  have  the  evidence  in  proper  form 
for  presentation.  The  duty  would  then  devolve  on 
me,  as  his  junior,  to  open  the  case,  if  we  were  for  the 
plaintiff,  and  commence  the  introduction  of  the  tes 
timony.  It  was  marvelous  to  notice  how  soon  Mr. 
Evarts  would  acquire  a  complete  mastery  of  the 
case.  He  would  listen  carefully  to  my  opening,  and 
while  I  was  introducing  formal  testimony  his  eyes 
would  scan  the  written  pleadings,  and  his  ears  be 
open  to  the  testimony,  and  in  an  hour's  time  he 
would  know  all  about  the  case,  and  be  thoroughly 
prepared  to  meet  his  adversaries  at  every  point." 
Thus  in  these  early  years  in  charge  of  the  office  and 
local  Court  practice  and  trying  the  minor  cases, 
which  Mr.  Evarts  could  not  be  expected  to  manage, 
in  view  of  the  large  number  of  important  cases 
which  his  constantly  increasing  reputation,  and  his 
firm's  distinction,  brought  to  him,  Mr.  Choate  ac 
quired  experience  as  a  trial  lawyer. 

During  these  years  Mr.  Evarts  appeared  in  a 
large  number  of  cases  which  attracted  national  at 
tention,  and  found  in  Mr.  Choate  an  able  coadjutor, 
fully  worthy  of  his  confidence,  and  one  whose  in 
fluence  on  his  success  Mr.  Evarts  has  often  acknowl 
edged.  But  it  was  not  long  before  Mr.  Choate 's 


174  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Ability  manifested  itself  clearly.  He  made  the  most 
of  every  opportunity  and  proved  himself  invaluable 
to  his  firm.  The  prestige  of  his  name  and  fame  as 
a  lawyer  won  by  patient  endeavor  and  slow  process, 
was  carved  out  by  sheer  force  of  indomitable  will, 
untiring  industry  and  extraordinary  intelligence. 

One  of  his  early  cases  was  that  of  the  Hynes 
Estate  which  involved  the  title  to  a  residence  on  the 
corner  of  Madison  Avenue  and  Twenty-seventh 
Street.  Mr.  Choate,  for  the  plaintiffs,  in  his  open 
ing  address  to  the  jury,  began  his  outline  of  the 
case  as  follows : 

"The  most  observable  thing  about  the  case  is  the 
startling  inequality  of  the  contestants.  The  two 
children  you  see  before  you  are  the  sons  of  the 
deceased;  Willie  the  elder,  is  about  six  years  old, 
and  Andrew,  the  younger,  is  but  four.  They  claim 
this  property  as  sons  and  heirs  of  their  father, 
subject  only  to  the  dower  right  of  their  mother. 
The  property  is  claimed  on  the  other  side  by  two 
wealthy  and  powerful  ladies,  the  children's  aunts, 
and  sisters  of  their  deceased  father.  It  is  not  a 
case  of  the  babes  in  the  wood  contesting  with  a  cruel 
uncle,  but  rather  with  their  kind  aunts— two  en 
tirely  estimable  ladies.  As  I  believe,  the  question  in 
the  case  is  the  claim  and  a  counter-claim  on  the  part 
of  the  defendants  as  to  the  ownership  of  this  prop 
erty,  and  from  the  answer  is  disclosed  the  momen 
tous  and  startling  fact  that  these  little  boys  never 
had  a  right  to  be  born. 


THE  LAWYER  175 

"As  the  defendants  have  not  yet  shown  their 
hand,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know  on  what  ground  they 
contest  the  claim  of  the  boys  to  the  property.  The 
question  in  the  case  is  as  to  the  marriage  of  the 
parents  of  the  boys,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
they  lived  together  as  man  and  wife,  and  supposed 
themselves  to  hold  that  relation  to  each  other  in 
England.  Their  father  introduced  the  mother  of 
the  boys  as  his  wife,  and  she  presented  him  to  her 
friends  as  her  husband.  During  a  drive  with  his 
friends  he  was  accidentally  thrown  from  his  car 
riage,  and  killed,  without  having  made  any  arrange 
ment  of  his  affairs.  If  he  had  made  a  will  there 
would  not  now  be  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
aunts  to  bastardize  the  two  children.  When  the 
mother  made  her  way  here  with  the  boys,  thinking 
that  they  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  prove  their 
identity,  and  claim  the  property,  they  were  met  with 
the  assertion  that  their  father  and  mother  were  not 
married,  and,  therefore,  they  could  not  touch  the 
property. ' ' 

During  the  trial  it  became  necessary  for  the 
defendants  to  prove  the  authenticity  of  thirteen 
volumes  of  the  official  statutes  of  England,  and 
what  occurred  in  this  connection  is  an  illustration 
of  the  byplay  in  which  Mr.  Choate  sometimes 
indulged. 

A  librarian  was  called  as  a  witness  who  testified : 
"I  know  that  they  are  the  official  statutes  of  Eng 
land.  I  never  heard  them  actually  cited  in  Court, 


176  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

but  they  are  called  for  largely.  They  are  consulted 
by  lawyers  and  judges. ' ' 

"What  judge  did  you  ever  see  consulting  either 
of  these  volumes,77  asked  Mr.  Choate. 

"I  don't  know  that  I  could  name  any  one  now." 

"Was  it  a  judge  of  the  Marine  Court,  Common 
Pleas  or  a  police  court  justice  that  you  saw  studying 
them?" 

"I  could  not  state  that  definitely. " 

"Can  you  tell  any  lawyers  that  you  saw  con 
sulting  these  books?" 

"Oh  yes,  many  of  them." 

"Please  name  one." 

"Well,"  said  the  witness,  hesitating,  "there  was 
Mr.  Brown  day  before  yesterday." 

"Name  another." 

The  witness  was  evidently  much  confused  and 
after  a  thoughtful  pause  said,  "It  is  very  hard  to 
remember  just  now,"  and  he  was  allowed  to  step 
down. 

Mr.  Choate  argued  that  the  proof  offered  did  not 
conform  to  legal  requirements,  that  when  foreign 
law  was  introduced  the  party  appealing  to  it  must 
bring  in  a  book  printed  by  the  authorities  of  that 
country,  and  that  the  books  introduced  by  the  de 
fendants  did  not  bear  any  evidence  of  having  been 
printed  by  the  authorities  of  Great  Britain. 

The  judge  suggested  that  it  was  sufficient  proof 
of  the  authenticity  of  the  book  that  there  were 
printed  upon  the  title  page  the  words  "by 
authority." 


THE  LAWYER  177 

Mr.  Choate  said  it  was  necessary  that  the  book 
should  be  printed,  not  "by  authority "  of  some 
body  merely,  but  that  they  should  be  published 
by  authority  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  title 
pages  of  the  volume  in  question  did  not  show 
that. 

The  Court  remarked  that  there  can  be  no  other 
authority  to  make  laws  in  England  than  that  of 
Great  Britain. 

Mr.  Choate  examined  the  books  and  remarked  in 
a  serio-comic  way  that  they  were  probably  bogus 
copies  gotten  up  for  the  case  in  dispute.  The  op 
posing  counsel  offered  to  read  a  letter  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor  to  show  their  authority. 

"Lord  Chancellor!  Who  is  the  Lord  Chancellor? 
He's  nobody, "  exclaimed  Mr.  Choate.  "There  is 
absolutely  nothing  in  these  books  (turning  over  the 
leaves)  to  show  they  were  published  in  England 
unless  it  is  the  picture  of  a  lion  rampant  at  the 
bottom  of  the  title  page."  [Laughter.] 

Defendants'  counsel  (thumbing  the  leaves  of  an 
other  volume) :  Why,  here  are  the  words  "Printers 
to  the  Queen's  most  excellent  majesty." 

Mr.  Choate  (with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  title  page) : 
Well,  there  are  other  "Queen's  most  excellent 
majesties." 

Defendants'  counsel  (reaching  for  another 
volume) :  That's  so,  but  not  in  London. 

The  Court  (carefully  scrutinizing  still  another 
volume) :  In  this  book  it  appears  that  these  laws 
were  passed  at  the  sixth  session  of  the  fourth 


178  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Parliament  of  the  present  Queen  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 

Mr.  Choate  (analyzing  the  corresponding  in 
scription  in  his  volume) :  Well,  will  your  Honor  give 
the  printer  the  right  by  saying  a  few  words  in  the 
book  to  make  it  legal? 

The  Court:  Well,  it  says  "by  authority." 

Mr.  Choate :    By  authority  of  the  printer. 

Of  course,  the  Court  held  that  the  books  might  be 
received  as  evidence,  and  probably  Mr.  Choate 's 
contention  was  more  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
little  fun  for  the  jury. 

The  trial  was  protracted,  and  evidently  the  coun 
sel  who  summed  up  for  the  defense  must  have  been 
unusually  bitter  in  his  attack  on  the  plaintiffs,  but 
Mr.  Choate  with  his  usual  adroitness  indulged  in 
a  series  of  left-handed  compliments.  He  began  by 
congratulating  the  defendants'  counsel  on  his  sum 
ming-up  as  a  magnificent  effort.  He  would  like,  he 
said,  a  sample  of  the  spirit  with  which  the  counsel 
tempered  his  speech;  he  must  have  taken  a  deeper 
potion  than  usual  of  gall,  vitriol  and  wormwood  to 
embitter  this  poor  woman.  What  a  gutter  of 
calumny  they  had  deluged  this  disarmed  and  help 
less  woman  with,  and  all  a  grand  effort  of  imagina 
tion!  His  feathered  fancies  soared  on  eagles' 
wings,  and  he  indulged  from  the  beginning  to  end 
in  the  purest  efforts  of  invention,  making  what 
seemed  to  be  bricks  for  the  condemnation  of  this 
woman,  without  either  straw  or  clay.  The  counsel 
built  this  structure  upon  what  was  not  proved,  he 


THE  LAWYER  179 

distorted  some  of  the  facts  that  were  in  evidence, 
his  speech  was  all  there  was  of  a  case  for  the 
defense,  since  they  had  no  evidence  to  rely  on. 

In  commenting  upon  the  presumption  of  mar 
riage,  Mr.  Choate  said  he  stood  upon  the  law  that 
the  parties  were  married  in  a  manner  that  holds 
good  under  the  laws  of  all  Christendom,  except  the 
British  Isles,  and  that  law  was  no  more  binding 
upon  American  citizens  while  traveling  abroad.  The 
other  side,  he  said,  had  made  a  point  as  to  the 
probability  of  the  children  being  those  of  the  de 
ceased  Hynes ;  that  in  all  probability  her  first  hus 
band,  Charles  Saunders,  was  the  father.  "It  has 
been  said  that  great  men  project  themselves  into 
the  future  but  I  do  not  think  that  Charles  Saunders 
was  so  great  a  man  that  he  could  project  himself 
two  years  and  nine  months  into  the  future.  Some 
people  believe  now  in  miracles,  we  do  not  believe 
in  miracles,  but  we  pray  to  be  absolved  from  such 
a  miracle  as  that."  It  did  not  take  long  for  the 
jury  to  find  a  verdict  in  his  favor. 

A  case  which  probably  gained  for  him  more  eclat 
as  a  jury  lawyer  than  any  other  of  his  cases  up  to 
that  time,  was  that  of  Martinez  v.  del  Valle.  It  in 
volved  a  claim  for  heavy  damages  in  money  against 
a  wealthy  Cuban  by  a  beautiful  young  woman  for 
seduction  under  promise  of  marriage. 

The  plaintiff  was  represented  by  William  A. 
Beach,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  experienced 
jury  lawyers  at  the  Bar,  whose  career,  until  late, 
was  in  Troy,  New  York,  and  subsequently  at  the 


180  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

New  York  Bar.  He  occupied  an  eminent  position 
as  counsel,  especially  in  rather  sensational  cases. 
The  case  attracted  great  public  attention  and 
throngs  attended  the  trial.  It  was  said  the  de 
fendant  offered  $20,000  in  settlement  to  prevent  the 
case  coming  into  Court. 

Mr.  Choate  won  by  sheer  good  humor,  getting  the 
laugh  on  his  opponent  by  alluding  in  his  address  to 
the  jury  to  defendant 's  acquaintance  with  the  plain 
tiff  having  begun  by  assisting  her  to  rise  from  a 
fall  on  the  street.  He  said : 

"Now  I  want  to  speak  a  word  of  warning  to  all 
Good  Samaritans,  if  there  are  any  in  the  jury  box, 
against  this  practice  of  going  to  the  rescue  of  fallen 
women  on  the  sidewalks.  I  do  not  think  my  client 
will  ever  do  it  again.  I  do  not  think  anybody  con 
nected  with  the  administration  of  justice  in  this  case 
will  ever  again  go  to  the  relief  of  one  of  our  fair 
fallen  sisters  under  such  circumstances.  I  know  the 
parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  is  held  up  as  an 
example  for  Christian  conduct  and  action  to  all 
good  people,  but,  gentlemen,  it  does  not  apply  to 
this  case,  because  it  was  *a  certain  man9  who  went 
down  to  Jericho  and  fell  among  thieves,  and  not  a 
woman,  and  the  Good  Samaritan  himself  was  of 
the  same  sex,  and  there  is  not  a  word  of  injunction 
upon  any  of  us  to  go  to  the  rescue  of  a  person  of 
the  other  sex  if  she  slips  upon  the  ice.  Why,  gentle 
men,  this  is  an  historical  trick  of  the  'nymphs  of 
the  pave.'  Hundreds  of  times  has  it  been  practiced 


THE  LAWYER  181 

upon  the  verdant  and  inexperienced  stranger  in  our 
great  city." 

Mr.  Choate 's  defense  was  undoubtedly  difficult  by 
reason  of  the  attractiveness  of  the  plaintiff  and  the 
ability  of  her  lawyer.  He  succeeded,  however,  in 
saving  del  Valle  from  the  payment  of  money  dam 
ages  except  the  insignificant  sum  of  $50.  The  effect 
of  this  was  to  sustain  plaintiff's  charge  of  breach 
of  promise  and  seduction,  and  the  defendant's 
claim  that  she  had  not  sustained  any  pecuniary 
damage. 

In  an  unguarded  moment,  under  Mr.  Choate 's 
cross-examination,  she  had  admitted  that  what  she 
desired  was  not  money  but  the  vindication  of  her 
character.  The  explanation  of  the  verdict  for  this 
small  amount  may  undoubtedly  be  found  in  the  use 
which  Mr.  Choate  made  of  this  concession ;  but  even 
with  it,  the  jury  might  have  well  considered  her  as 
meaning  that  she  did  not  attach  so  much  importance 
to  money  as  she  did  to  vindication  of  character,  and 
have  given  her  a  substantial  verdict. 

He  subjected  her  to  searching  inquiries  as  to  the 
details  of  the  occurrence  on  the  occasion  of  the 
alleged  wrong  done  her,  for  the  particulars  of  which 
I  refer  the  curious  reader  to  that  interesting  book, 
The  Art  of  Cross-Examination^  by  Mr.  F.  L. 
Wellman. 

The  result  was  not  a  sweeping  victory  for  Mr. 
Choate,  because  he  failed  to  satisfy  the  jury  that 
his  attack  upon  her  character  was  well  founded.  But, 


182  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

with  her  disclaimer  that  the  purpose  of  the  action 
was  to  recover  money  damages,  coupled  with  Mr. 
Choate's  power  over  a  jury,  the  paltry  damages 
awarded  secured  for  his  client  an  unquestionable 
victory  and  established  Mr.  Choate's  position  as 
one  of  the  greatest  jury  lawyers  that  has  appeared 
at  the  New  York  Bar. 

One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  trial  was  his 
racy  description  "of  this  fair  and  beautiful  woman" 
while  she  was  giving  her  evidence. 

"  Gentlemen,  have  you  seen  since  the  opening  of 
this  trial  one  blush,  one  symptom  of  distress  upon 
her  sharp  and  intelligent  features?  Not  one.  There 
was,  in  a  critical  point  of  her  examination,  a  breaking 
down  or  a  breaking  up,  as  I  should  prefer  to  call 
it.  Her  handkerchief  was  applied  to  her  eyes ;  there 
was  a  loud  cry  for  'water,  water/  from  my  learned 
friend,  echoed  by  his  worthy  and  amiable  junior,  as 
though  the  very  Bench  itself  were  about  to  be 
wrapped  in  flames!  [Laughter.]  But  when  the 
crisis  was  over,  then  it  appeared  that  there  had 
only  been  a  momentary  eclipse  by  the  handkerchief 
—that  she  had  been  shedding  dry  tears  all  the 
while!  Not  a  muscle  was  disturbed;  she  advanced 
in  the  progress  of  her  story  with  sparkling  eyes 
and  radiant  smile  and  tripping  tongue,  and  thus 
continued  to  the  end  of  the  case ! 

"The  great  masters  of  English  fiction  have  loved 
nothing  better  than  to  depict  the  appearance  in 
Court  of  these  wounded  and  bleeding  victims  of 


THE  LAWYER  183 

seduction  when  they  come  to  be  arrayed  before  the 
s^aze  of  the  world. 

"You  cannot  have  forgotten  how  Walter  Scott 
and  George  Eliot  have  portrayed  them  sitting 
through  the  ordeal  of  their  trials — the  very  pictures 
of  crushed  and  Weeding  innocence,  withering  under 
the  blight  that  had  fallen  upon  them  from  Heaven, 
or  risen  upon  them  from  Hell.  Never  able  so  much 
as  to  raise  their  eyes  to  the  radiant  dignity  of 
the  Bench  [laughter],  seeming  to  bear  mere 
existence  as  a  burden  and  a  sorrow.  But,  gentle 
men,  our  future  novelist,  if  he  will  listen  and  learn 
from  what  has  been  exhibited  here,  will  have  a 
wholly  different  picture  to  paint.  He  will  not  omit 
the  bright  and  fascinating  smile,  the  sparkling  eye, 
the  undisturbed  composure  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  terrible  ordeal.  With  what  zest  and 
relish  and  keen  enjoyment  she  detailed  her  story! 
What  must  be  the  condition  of  mind  and  heart  of 
the  woman  who  can  detail  such  stories  to  such  an 
audience  as  was  gathered  together  here!" 

Another  noteworthy  illustration  of  his  pungent 
wit  in  dealing  in  his  address  to  the  jury  with  the 
facts  adduced  by  his  skillful  cross-examination  grew 
out  of  certain  visits  the  plaintiff  and  Mr.  del  Valle 
made  to  Solari's,  a  well-known  restaurant,  and  her 
effort  to  teach  him  the  English  language. 

Mr.  Choate:  How  did  Mr.  del  Valle  progress 
with  his  English? 


184  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Miss  Martinez:  Very  well  indeed.  Remarkably 
well. 

Mr.  Choate:  Did  you  practice  English  at 
Solan's! 

Miss  Martinez:     Yes,  frequently. 

Mr.  Choate:  That  was  a  pretty  constant  oc 
cupation  at  all  your  meetings  in  those  private 
rooms  at  Solari's,  wasn't  it — practicing  or  speak 
ing  English! 

Miss  Martinez:  We  frequently  spoke  about  the 
rules  of  the  language. 

Mr.  Choate :  Did  his  English  during  these  inter 
views  improve? 

Miss  Martinez :    I  think  it  did. 

Mr.  Choate:  And  you  did  all  you  could  to  im 
prove  it,  I  suppose? 

Miss  Martinez :    Undeniably  so. 

Mr.  Choate:  You  even  had  a  book  of  conversa 
tion  with  you! 

Miss  Martinez :    We  had. 

Mr.  Choate:  And  did  he  make  great  efforts  at 
those  times  to  improve  and  advance  his  English! 

Miss  Martinez :    I  believe  he  did. 

He  remarked  upon  this  testimony  in  summing  up 
to  the  jury  as  follows : 

"Well,  gentlemen,  I  do  not  know  anything  about 
Solari's  except  what  is  shown  here  upon  the  evi 
dence.  So  far  as  I  can  make  out,  however,  people 
go  to  Solari's  for  all  sorts  of  purposes.  Men  go 
there  with  ladies,  ladies  with  ladies,  men  with  men, 


THE  LAWYER  185 

theater  parties,  family  parties,  matinee  parties- 
all  sorts  of  parties — and  these  parties  went  there 
together.  But  under  the  developments  of  this  case, 
Solari's  assumes  a  new  importance  and  acquires  a 
new  fame.  It  is  no  longer  a  mere  restaurant.  It 
is  no  longer  a  mere  place  of  refreshment  for  the 
body,  where  you  can  get  meat  and  wine  and  what 
ever  is  pleasant  for  the  inner  man;  it  now  attains 
celebrity  as  a  new  school  of  learning,  patronized, 
brought  into  notice,  by  my  client  and  the  fair  plain 
tiff  as  a  place  where  you  can  go  to  drink  of  the 
Fountain  of  Knowledge.  [Laughter.]  They  had  a 
Guide  to  Conversation. 

"I  think  the  fair  plaintiff  said  that  there  were 
1  digressions'  there.  They  ate  and  drank — she 
thinks  they  ate  and  drank  for  two  hours  at  a  time, 
but  I  compelled  her  to  say  that  there  was  an  inter 
mediate  '  digression.'  What  there  was  in  the  *  di 
gression'  does  not  exactly  appear;  for  one  thing, 
there  was  this  Guide  to  Conversation,  but  there  were 
limits  even  to  the  regions  to  which  this  Guide  led 
them,  for  they  both  agreed  that  it  did  not  bring 
them  even  to  the  vestibule  of  Criminal  Conversa 
tion,  which  is  a  very  important  point  to  consider  in 
connection  with  the  history  of  these  meetings  at 
Solari's."  [Roars  of  laughter.] 

His  witty  comment  on  the  broken  fortune  of 
the  Martinez  family  when  the  plaintiff  met  this  rich 
Cuban  was : 

"  Never  did  a  privateer  upon  the  Spanish  Main 


186  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

give  chase  to  and  board  a  homeward-bound  India- 
man  with  more  avidity  and  vigor  than  this  family 
proposed  to  board  this  rich  Cuban  and  make  a 
capture  of  him.  It  was  a  'big  bonanza '  thrown  to 
them  in  their  distress. " 

A  newspaper  description  of  Mr.  Choate  during 
the  trial  pictured  him  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Choate  talks  when  at  'parade  rest7  with  his 
hands  in  his  coat  tail  pockets.  When  really  in 
action  he  gesticulates  freely  with  both  hands,  or 
with  one  in  his  pocket ;  the  other,  moving,  is  tempted 
to  hit  the  table  and  yields  to  the  temptation;  some 
times  a  stamp  with  the  foot  adds  emphasis  to  his 
speech,  and  he  uses  a  lawyer 's  privilege  of  getting 
very  near  to  his  learned  opponent's  fair  client, 
bending  over  her  and  looking  straight  into  her  face 
when  saying  the  most  disagreeable  things  about 
her.  As  she  sat  with  her  back  to  him  and  the  head 
of  Mr.  Beach's  clerk  was  in  the  way  he  had  to  look 
around  the  corner  into  her  eyes,  but  she  paid  no 
attention." 

His  success  in  an  action  brought  by  that  dis 
tinguished  architect  Eichard  M.  Hunt  to  recover 
from  Mrs.  Paran  Stevens  fees  earned  in  the  con 
struction  of  a  hotel  was  also  won  by  the  same 
delightful  humor.  Her  origin  was  humble  and  her 
husband  in  earlier  days  was  proprietor  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel.  In  after  years,  having  acquired 


THE  LAWYER  187 

wealth,  she  posed  as  a  prominent  society  leader. 
Mr.  Choate,  in  a  serio-comic  vein,  alluded  to  her 
antecedents  and  to  her  husband  as  having  "kept  a 
hotel  acceptably  in  the  city  for  many  years. ' ' 

No  more  cutting  remark  was  ever  made  in  a  court 
room  than  his  utterance  in  summing  up  as  he 
sketched,  in  eloquent  terms,  Mrs.  Stevens'  rise 
from  humble  conditions  to  social  prominence,  con 
cluding  : 

"And  at  last  the  arm  of  royalty  was  bent  to 
receive  her  gloved  hand,  and  how,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  did  she  reach  this  imposing  eminence?  [An 
impressive  pause.]  Upon  a  mountain  of  unpaid 
bills. " 

The  trial  had  occupied  eight  days  during  which 
there  were  numerous  displays  of  his  spontaneous 
wit,  bubbling  up  and  gushing  forth  as  water  with 
a  pungent  tang  from  a  mineral  spring.  A  prom 
inent  instance  of  this  was  his  adaptation  of  one  of 
our  most  familiar  nursery  rhymes  to  the  circum 
stances  in  the  case,  so  perfectly  pat  and  mirth  pro 
voking  that  it  would  have  been  a  dull-witted  and 
unimpressionable  jury  that  could  fail  to  appreciate, 
from  the  shouts  of  laughter  with  which  the  court 
room  resounded,  that  a  verdict  from  the  public  had 
already  been  found  in  Mr.  Choate 's  favor,  of  which 
the  jury  was  to  be  the  mouthpiece. 

In  his  closing  plea,  he  said : 

"For  the  last  week,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  we 
have  been  engaged  here  in  a  bitter  contest.  It  has 


188  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

tried  us  all.  Coming  by  my  children's  nursery  door, 
this  morning,  I  heard  them  trying  to  teach  the  baby 
the  story  of  'The  House  that  Jack  Built.'  I  was 
almost  inclined  to  think  that  they  had  been  in  Court 
listening  to  this  case  for,  gentlemen,  we  are  con 
sidering  'The  House  that  Jack  Built.'  My  client  is 
the  unfortunate  'Jack'  and  (looking  and  bowing 
gracefully  to  Mrs.  Stevens)  you,  madam,  may  be 
called  'the  maiden,  all  forlorn  that  milked  the  cow 
with  the  crumpled  horn' — which  we  can  easily 
imagine  is  the  Stevens'  estate — while  the  opposing 
counsel,  who  knows  he  has  a  bad  case  and  is  anxious 
about  his  fee,  is  'the  dog  that  worried  the  cat' — 
worrying  the  only  witness  who  could  tell  how  the 
cat  caught  the  rat — the  dishonest  workmen — 'that 
ate  the  malt'  and  pocketed  the  money — that  lived  in 
the  House  that  Hunt  built." 

Mrs.  Stevens  poured  out  the  vials  of  her  wrath  on 
Mr.  Choate,  and  started  upon  what  she  called  a 
"crusage"  against  him,  and  secured  the  publication 
in  one  or  two  society  journals  of  caustic  criticisms 
on  his  conduct.  She  was,  Mr.  Choate  told  me,  very 
indignant  at  the  time  but,  he  added,  "we  became 
good  friends  afterwards — so  good  that  she  used 
to  invite  me  to  her  house. ' ' 

In  one  of  his  memorable  cases,  Stewart  against 
Huntington,  which  involved  the  doings  of  that 
famous  combination  of  brains  and  capital,  Hunt 
ington,  Hopkins,  Crocker  and  Stanford,  and  the 


DURING  A  TRIAL 


THE  LAWYER  189 

possession  of  $1,200,000,  the  noted  Francis  N. 
Bangs  and  Senator  Roscoe  Conkling,  then  in  his 
intellectual  prime,  were  on  the  other  side  and  made 
a  formidable  pair  of  defenders.  Mr.  Choate  re 
ferred  to  Huntington  as  a  great  railway  magnate 
and  financier.  In  his  opening  address  to  the  jury, 
he  told  them  they  were  to  determine  which  of  two 
men  was  the  rightful  owner  of  $6,000,000.  "  There 
is  no  opportunity, "  he  said,  "of  an  appeal  to  your 
sympathies.  It  is  not  the  case  of  rich  against  poor, 
capital  against  labor,  power  against  weakness. "  He 
described  his  client  as  a  prudent,  substantial  busi 
ness  man,  and  the  defendant,  Huntington,  as  a 
"man  who  owns  money,  houses,  many  railroads, 
many  banks,  many  newspapers,  many  judges,  many 
legislatures." 

"I  doubt,  gentlemen,  whether  any  man  ever  had 
to  contend  alone  against  so  powerful  a  combination. 
In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  defendant  himself, 
one  of  the  three  great  railway  monarchs  of  the 
world,  all  powerful  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  who  has  called  here  to  aid  him, 
as  was  his  right,  the  greatest  powers  of  the  Bar, 
the  most  astute,  the  most  crafty — in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word — the  most  skillful  of  our  profession 
and,"  with  a  graceful  wave  of  the  hand  towards  Mr. 
Conkling,  "the  very  Demosthenes  of  our  time,  and 
yet  I  do  not  feel  entirely  alone  or  entirely  unarmed. 
I  have  the  evidence  in  this  case  with  me,  and  if  I 
can  put  that  little  weapon  in  my  sling,  and  aim 
straight  at  his  forehead,  the  recent  Goliath  of  the 


190  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

continent  is   bound  to   'bite   the   dust,'  "   and  he 
secured  a  verdict. 

It  was  in  this  case  that  he  uttered  his  famous 
retort  to  Senator  Conkling.  Those  familiar  with 
the  features  of  Senator  Conkling,  either  from  per 
sonal  acquaintance  or  from  portraits,  will  appreciate 
the  telling  wit  of  Mr.  Choate's  retort,  called  forth 
by  one  of  Mr.  Conkling 's  speeches,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  quoted  a  published  description  of  Mr. 
Choate's  appearance.  It  provoked  a  hearty  laugh 
at  Mr.  Choate's  expense,  in  which,  however,  he 
joined  as  heartily  as  the  others  but,  when  Mr. 
Choate  had  an  opportunity  to  reply,  he  completely 
turned  the  tables  on  the  ex-Senator:  "My  learned 
friend  has  been  a  little  personal.  He  has  seen  fit 
to  quote  for  your  entertainment  and  that  of  the 
learned  Court  and  this  audience  a  description  of 
my  face  and  features  that  he  gathered  from  a  news 
paper.  I  do  not  like  to  lie  under  this  imputation 
and  I  will  return  it.  But,  gentlemen,  not  from  any 
newspaper,  oh  no!  I  will  paint  his  picture  as  it 
has  been  painted  by  an  immortal  pen.  I  will  give 
you  a  description  of  him  as  the  divine  Shakespeare 
painted  it,  for  he  must  have  had  my  learned  friend 
in  his  eye  when  he  said : 

"  'See  what  a  grace  is  seated  on  his  brow; 
Hyperion's  curls,  the  front  of  Jove  himself; 
An  eye  like  Mars  to  threaten  and  command — 
A  combination  and  a  form,  indeed, 
Where  every  God  did  seek  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man. '  ' ' 


THE  LAWYER  191 

This  apposite  description  of  the  physical  fea 
tures  of  Mr.  Conkling  brought  forth  shouts  of 
laughter,  to  Senator  Conkling 's  evident  embarrass 
ment. 

A  case  which  aroused  considerable  public  interest, 
especially  of  the  publishers  and  newspaper  editors, 
was  that  of  Eev.  Dr.  Isaac  K.  Funk,  against  E.  L. 
Godkin,  editor  of  the  Evening  Post.  Dr.  Punk  was 
a  leading  Methodist,  and  for  years  had  taken  a 
lively  interest  in  what  he  called  "the  cause  of 
temperance, "  as  an  adherent  of  the  Prohibition 
Party.  His  purpose  seemed  to  be  to  force  total 
abstinence  on  his  party,  and  prohibition  on  his 
neighbors.  Later  in  life  he  became  a  spiritualist, 
and  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  their  proceed 
ings.  He  severed  his  connection  actively  with  the 
ministry  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  entered  upon 
a  business  career  which,  in  its  early  stages,  was 
not  successful;  but,  by  persistent  and  well-directed 
energy,  he  finally  organized  the  firm  of  Funk  & 
Wagnalls,  publishers  of  books,  which,  in  subsequent 
years,  achieved  great  success,  chiefly  in  publications 
of  a  scientific  and  psychological  character,  but 
having  little  to  do  with  fiction  and  works  of  an 
ephemeral  nature. 

For  years  earnest  efforts  had  been  made  by  pub 
lishers  and  authors  for  an  international  copyright, 
and  the  Evening  Post,  under  the  editorship  of  Mr. 
Godkin,  had  taken  a  decided  position  in  its  favor, 
and  devoted  its  energies  to  abolish  what  was  known 


192  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

as  literary  piracy  among  American  publishers.  In 
this  struggle  for  international  copyright  Dr.  Funk, 
strangely  enough,  opposed  it,  and  Mr.  Godkin  di 
rected  his  editorial  shafts  against  Dr.  Funk  as  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity  using  piratical  methods  in  his 
publications.  He  gave  a  great  deal  of  space  to 
what  he  called  "the  pirates"  who  were  appropriat 
ing  the  unprotected  works  of  authors,  and  pub 
lishing  them  for  their  personal  benefit.  Mr. 
Godkin 's  editorials  were  so  pungent  and  personal 
that  Dr.  Funk  felt  impelled  to  commence  an  action 
against  him  for  libel,  setting  forth  the  editorials 
complained  of,  and  claiming  heavy  damages  for 
injuries  to  himself  and  to  his  firm. 

Mr.  Choate  was  retained  to  represent  Mr.  Godkin. 
His  adversary,  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Funk,  was  Colonel 
James,  at  the  time  one  of  the  most  prominent  trial 
lawyers  at  the  Bar.  Mr.  Choate  had  given  little 
study  to  the  copyright  question  and  was  obliged  to 
rely  upon  being  "  coached, "  to  supply  him  with  the 
necessary  knowledge  on  the  subject.  Mr.  George 
Haven  Putnam  relates  in  his  interesting  Memories 
of  a  Publisher  the  part  he  took  in  putting  Mr. 
Choate  au  courant  with  piratical  publications,  and 
international  copyright.  Mr.  Choate  had  little  ex 
pectation  of  securing  an  out-and-out  verdict  for 
the  defendant,  but  aimed  principally  at  what  the 
lawyers  called  a  mitigation  of  damages  which,  in 
common  parlance,  means  a  verdict  for  as  small  an 
amount  as  possible.  His  tactful  and  deferential 
method,  characterized  by  rather  unusual  gentleness, 


THE  LAWYER  193 

brought  out  from  Dr.  Funk  the  fact  that,  after 
abandoning  the  ministry  for  a  business  career,  he 
had  frequently  officiated  in  the  pulpit  at  special 
services,  and  ecclesiastical  functions.  He  gave,  with 
a  good  deal  of  satisfaction,  the  evidences  of  appre 
ciation  manifested  by  his  fellowmen  in  making  him 
the  nominee  of  the  Prohibition  Party  for  Congress 
and  for  Governor.  "Not  yet  for  President ?"  asked 
Mr.  Choate.  "No,"  replied  Dr.  Funk.  ''Ah,  not 
yet,"  replied  Mr.  Choate,  "but  that  will  probably 
come  a  little  later."  Thus,  in  developing  Dr. 
Funk's  career,  Mr.  Choate  made  it  apparent  by  a 
somewhat  deferential,  and  scarcely  noticeable,  flat 
tery,  that  public  honors,  and  manifestations  of 
personal  regard,  had  frequently  come  to  Dr.  Funk 
during  the  very  time  when  Mr.  Godkin  was  directing 
to  him  his  barbed  shafts. 

Among  the  successful  publications  of  Dr.  Funk — 
one  of  the  very  first,  it  was  claimed — was  an  un 
authorized  publication  of  Dean  Farrar's  Life  of 
Christ.  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  publishers,  had  paid 
Dean  Farrar  a  substantial  sum  for  the  right  to 
publish  the  book,  and  Mr.  Godkin  asserted  that  it 
was  literary  piracy  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Funk  to 
infringe  upon  their  rights. 

Mr.  Choate  made  use  of  this,  after  having  drawn 
from  Dr.  Funk  the  story  of  several  of  his  most 
successful  publications,  by  asking  him  in  the 
gentlest  and  most  deferential  manner  possible: 

"Now,  Dr.  Funk,  is  it  true  that  one  of  your 
most  important  successes,  in  entering  upon  your 


194  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

business  career,  was  by  selling  The  Life  of  Our 
Saviour?  This  was  a  poser  for  Dr.  Funk,  but  there 
was  no  alternative  but  to  answer  it  in  the  affirma 
tive.  Mr.  Choate,  however,  followed  it  up  with  an 
exceedingly  embarrassing  and  well-directed  ques 
tion,  calculated  to  bring  confusion  to  the  reverend 
gentleman,  by  asking  him:  "Now,  sir,  will  you 
please  explain  to  the  Court,  and  to  the  jury,  in  what 
manner  your  character  and  reputation  among  your 
friends  and  associates  and  with  the  public,  have 
been  injured  by  the  so-called  brutal  attacks  of  my 
client?"  This  the  witness  could  not  explain,  be 
cause  from  his  testimony  it  was  apparent  that  his 
greatest  successes,  from  a  political  and  business 
standpoint,  as  well  as  evidence  of  appreciation  by 
his  fellow  Methodists,  had  been  manifested  while 
Mr.  Godkin  was  referring  to  him  in  the  Evening 
Post  as  a  "Methodist  pirate." 

In  summing  up  the  case,  Mr.  Choate  referred  to 
Dr.  Funk  as  follows : 

"The  plaintiff,  gentlemen,  is  a  Doctor  of  Divinity, 
and  we  have  it  from  his  own  evidence  that  he  is  a 
much  honored  Doctor  of  Divinity.  I  am  not  myself 
a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and,  at  the  late  time  of  life 
that  I  have  reached,  and  in  connection  with  what 
my  friends  are  pleased  to  describe  as  my  general 
frivolity  of  conduct,  I  may  never  hope  to  achieve 
that  distinction.  I  cannot  tell,  therefore,  just  how 
a  Doctor  of  Divinity  feels,  but  to  me,  an  outsider 
and  a  layman,  there  is  something  incongruous  in 


THE  LAWYER  195 

the  idea  of  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  going  into  business 
for  gain,  and  beginning  his  operations  by  stealing 
The  Life  of  Our  Saviour." 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  of  the  publication  of  the 
editorials,  and  their  severe  and  bitter  reflections  on 
Dr.  Funk  as  a  literary  pirate,  Mr.  Choate's  adroit 
ness  and  humor,  and  his  skill,  by  deference  and 
gentle  flattery,  in  extorting,  through  an  appeal  to  Dr. 
Funk's  vanity,  admissions  of  how  little  his  public 
career  had  been  affected  by  the  publications  com 
plained  of,  he  succeeded  in  bringing  the  jury  not 
only  to  the  conclusion  that  Dr.  Funk  had  suffered 
no  pecuniary  damage,  but  that  the  circumstances 
justified  the  editorials,  and  there  was  a  verdict  for 
the  defendant. 

A  case  which  aroused  great  public  interest, 
especially  on  the  Pacific  coast,  was  that  of  the 
United  States  against  the  estate  of  Leland  Stan 
ford,  who  represented  California  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  to  recover  over  $15,000,000.  The 
suit  was  brought  upon  a  statute  of  the  State  of 
California  which,  it  was  claimed,  bound  stockholders 
of  corporations,  personally,  for  the  debts  of  the 
corporation  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  stock 
held  by  them,  to  establish  Senator  Stanford's  liabil 
ity  as  a  stockholder  in  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  for  an  indebtedness  to  the  United  States 
Government.  The  liability  was  claimed  to  have 
arisen  by  reason  of  a  loan  of  United  States  bonds 
by  the  Government  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 


196  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

railroads  forming  a  part  of  the  Central  Pacific  Eoad. 

The  result  of  the  litigation  was  not  only  a  matter 
of  great  concern  to  Mrs.  Stanford,  whose  fortune,  if 
the  decision  were  adverse,  would  not  only  have  been 
swept  away,  but  the  Leland  Stanford  University, 
founded  by  Senator  Stanford  as  a  memorial  to  his 
son  who  died  just  as  he  was  entering  manhood, 
would  have  been  unable  to  continue  its  work. 

The  points  involved  in  the  case  and  the  arguments 
respecting  them  are  not  of  sufficient  interest  at  the 
present  time  to  justify  a  statement  of  them  in 
detail;  but  the  serious  consequences  and  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  amount  involved  created  unusual 
interest. 

The  case  was  originally  brought  in  the  Circuit 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  was  there  decided 
adversely  to  the  Government.  It  was  again  heard 
on  appeal  to  the  Circuit  of  Appeals,  and  finally  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  It  was 
there  that  Mr.  Choate  argued  in  behalf  of  the  Stan 
ford  estate.  The  argument  was  a  question  of  pure 
law,  involving  the  true  construction  and  interpreta 
tion  of  Acts  of  Congress  authorizing  the  loan  of 
bonds,  and  of  the  statute  of  California  creating  the 
liability. 

The  intellectually  curious  in  matters  of  law  will 
find  in  the  official  report  of  the  case  contained  in  the 
United  States  Reports,  vol.  161,  p.  412,  the  opinion 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  favor  of  the 
Stanford  estate.  The  newspapers  of  the  day  were 
filled  with  extended  accounts  of  the  arguments,  and 


THE  LAWYER  197 

presented  Mr.  Choate  as  a  lawyer  of  the  first  order 
in  a  most  important  domain  of  legal  discussion. 

Another  case  which  largely  increased  his  reputa 
tion  as  probably  the  greatest  jury  lawyer  of  his 
time  was  that  of  Gaston  Feuardent  against  General 
Cesnola,  tried  in  the  United  States  District  Court 
in  New  York.  In  the  very  earliest  days  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  General  Cesnola  sold 
to  the  Museum  a  large  collection  of  Cypriote  an 
tiquities  gathered  by  him  in  the  island  of  Cyprus. 
It  was  regarded  as  an  important  acquisition  by  the 
Museum,  and  General  Cesnola  from  that  time  until 
his  death  was  in  the  service  of  the  Museum  as  its 
Superintendent.  Soon  after  the  sale  art  critics 
raised  the  question  of  the  authenticity  of  his  col 
lection,  and  it  was  subjected  by  them  to  minute  and 
critical  examination,  with  the  result  that  opinion 
was  divided  and  controversy  aroused,  culminating 
in  such  serious  charges  against  General  Cesnola 
that  he  felt  obliged  to  resort  to  the  Courts  for  his 
own  vindication  and  that  of  his  collection.  Among 
these  critics  were  Mr.  Feuardent  and  Clarence 
Cook.  General  Cesnola  selected  Mr.  Feuardent  as 
the  subject  of  his  attack  on  a  charge  of  libel.  The 
trial  was  long  and  bitterly  contested.  Mr.  Choate 
was  counsel  for  General  Cesnola,  and  was  opposed 
by  Mr.  Francis  N.  Bangs,  then  one  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  leaders  of  the  Bar.  Mr.  Choate  let  loose 
all  the  weapons  in  his  arsenal,  and  the  contest  was 
characterized  from  start  to  finish  by  displays  of  not 


198  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

always  the  best  temper.  Mr.  Bangs  was  a  formida 
ble  opponent  but  he  lacked  that  appearance  of  easy 
good-nature  which  was  characteristic  of  his  antag 
onist,  and  allowed  himself  to  manifest  his  worry 
and  harassment  which  it  is  the  art  of  lawyers  to 
conceal.  In  so  doing,  he  was  placed  at  a  decided 
disadvantage  in  conducting  the  difficult  side  of  a 
difficult  case,  in  a  trial  which  occupied  several  weeks, 
enabling  Mr.  Choate  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the 
jury  and  secure  a  favorable  verdict.  This  was,  of 
course,  a  part  of  the  game  which  Mr.  Choate  played 
so  well.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  Mr.  Choate 
unnecessarily  goaded  his  adversary  into  displays 
of  temper,  even  so  far  as  to  call  forth  appeals  to 
the  Court  for  protection  from  Mr.  Choate 's  tactics. 
The  critics,  as  well,  were  not  spared,  and  they 
departed  from  the  witness  stand  not  only  sadder  but 
wiser  men,  sometimes  with  a  savage  thrust,  such  as 
was  directed  to  Clarence  Cook  when  Mr.  Choate, 
after  developing  certain  points  tending  to  discredit 
Mr.  Cook's  testimony,  turned  upon  him  and  shaking 
a  quivering  forefinger  at  him  quoted  with  dramatic 
emphasis:  " False,  fleeting,  perjured  Clarence." 

In  1889  the  entire  country  was  aroused  by  an 
attempt  of  a  former  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  California — David  S.  Terry — to  shoot  Stephen 
J.  Field,  then  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  at  one  time  an  associate  on  the 
Bench  with  Judge  Terry.  This  attempt  grew  out 
of  a  litigation  in  which  a  notorious  woman — Sarah 


THE  LAWYER  199 

Althea  Hill — sought  to  obtain  possession  of  a  con 
siderable  part  of  the  large  estate  of  Senator  Sharon. 
Judge  Terry  was  her  legal  adviser,  and  subse 
quently  married  her.  Thereafter  he  espoused  her 
cause  with  added  zeal.  The  case  was  brought  in 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court  in  California,  and 
was  tried  before  Mr.  Justice  Field.  When  the  day 
arrived  to  announce  his  opinion  Terry  and  his  wife 
were  in  the  Court,  both  of  them  armed.  Perceiving 
that  the  drift  of  the  opinion  was  unfavorable  to  her, 
Mrs.  Terry  became  violent  and,  in  the  effort  of  the 
Court  officers  to  remove  her,  Judge  Terry,  in  de 
fending  her,  drew  a  knife  and,  unless  restrained, 
would  have  attacked  the  officers.  For  this  flagrant 
offense  he  was  committed  to  jail  by  order  of  Mr. 
Justice  Field.  On  his  release  his  threats  against 
the  Justice  were  so  public,  and  Terry's  character  as 
a  desperate  ruffian  was  so  well  known,  that  Deputy 
Marshal  Neagle  was  assigned  to  accompany  Mr. 
Justice  Field,  and  remain  with  him  constantly,  and 
offer  him  all  needful  protection.  As  Mr.  Justice 
Field,  with  Neagle,  were  on  a  train  for  San  Fran 
cisco,  Neagle  was  informed  that  Terry  and  his  wife 
had  boarded  the  train  at  Fresno.  He  immediately 
telegraphed  to  the  State  Constable  at  Lathrop, 
where  the  train  was  to  stop  for  breakfast,  to  be 
prepared  to  give  assistance.  Neagle  endeavored  to 
persuade  Mr.  Justice  Field  not  to  go  to  the  res 
taurant,  but  to  take  his  breakfast  on  the  train.  Mr. 
Justice  Field  refused  to  do  this,  and  went  to  the 
resaurant.  Terry  observing  him,  assaulted  him, 


200  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

and  Neagle,  believing  the  life  of  Mr.  Justice  Field 
to  be  in  danger,  and  after  warning  Terry  to  stop, 
drew  his  pistol  and  shot  him.  Neagle  was  arrested, 
but  soon  afterward  was  brought  before  the  Circuit 
Court  of  the  United  States  on  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  to  determine  whether  Neagle  was  acting 
under  lawful  authority  in  defending  Mr.  Justice 
Field,  and  its  decision  was  in  the  affirmative.  Sub 
sequently  it  was  brought  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  for  review.  Here  Mr.  Choate 
appeared  to  defend  Neagle.  The  question  involved 
was  one  of  pure  law  calling  for  a  discussion  of 
abstract  legal  principles.  Mr.  Choate  was  then 
wearing  his  laurels  as  a  jury  lawyer,  having  ob 
tained,  as  yet,  slight  recognition  as  a  master  in 
jurisprudence.  This  case  afforded  him  an  oppor 
tunity  to  display  his  power  in  a  higher  sphere,  as 
a  lawyer  of  well-trained  and  well-stored  intellect.  1 
recall  that  soon  after  he  argued  the  case  he  sent 
me  a  copy  of  his  brief,  and  subsequently  remarked 
that  every  word  of  it  was  written  with  his  own 
hand,  every  case  referred  to  in  it  was  the  subject 
of  his  personal  investigation,  and  that  the  brief  was 
prepared  without  any  assistance  whatever.  I  re 
ceived  the  impression  that  he  desired  to  show  by  it 
what  he  was  able  to  do,  with  respect  to  the  quality 
of  his  work  before  our  highest  Appellate  Court,  and 
to  win  a  recognized  position  outside  the  domain  of 
a  jury  lawyer.  Of  course,  the  Supreme  Court  could 
not  well  have  been  unsympathetic,  as  the  case  in 
volved  one  of  their  own  members,  and  touched  all 


THE  LAWYER  201 

of  them  in  respect  of  their  protection  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties.  Nevertheless,  Mr. 
Choate's  work  was  admirably  done,  and  the  legal 
propositions  advanced  by  him  were  fully  sustained. 
The  opinion  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
will  be  found  in  135  United  States  Reports  at  p.  1. 

The  case  of  Laidlaw  against  Sage  is  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  New  York  jury 
trials.  It  is  also  a  leading  case  in  the  Appellate 
Courts  because  of  their  discussion  of  important 
questions  of  law  involved.  It  was  tried  four  times 
to  a  jury. 

Everybody  knew  Russell  Sage.  His  picturesque 
career,  commencing  as  a  grocer  in  Troy,  New  York, 
then  developing  into  a  legislator  as  Member  of 
Congress,  followed  by  intimate  relations  with  Jay 
Gould,  co-operating  with  him  in  the  manipulation 
of  railroad  properties;  his  Wall  Street  career  in 
dealing  in  "puts"  and  "calls";  his  acquisition  of 
vast  wealth ;  his  power  as  a  financial  magnate ;  his 
altogether  unique  personality,  his  eccentricity  and 
oddity,  made  him  one  of  the  best-known  characters 
of  the  day,  and  the  object  of  universal  curiosity. 
Wall  Street  was  full  of  him — of  his  love  of  money, 
the  hoarding  of  his  wealth,  which  put  him  out  of 
touch  with  charitable  objects  deserving  generous 
support,  and  the  absence  of  sympathy  for  his 
fellowmen.  His  shrewdness,  his  knowledge  of 
human  nature  and  his  extensive  experience  in  the 
forefront  of  the  battle  of  life  made  him  remarkably 


202  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

interesting  when  he  chose  to  draw  upon  these  in 
ordinary  business  intercourse,  and  he  had  a  vein 
of  grim  humor  that  was  exceedingly  amusing.  This 
would  crop  out  in  the  course  of  business  meetings 
and  tended  to  relieve  rather  difficult  situations.  His 
sensitive  spot  was  his  purse-strings,  but  when  these 
were  not  touched  he  was  quite  gracious  in  a  rugged, 
homely  way. 

Laidlaw 's  case  against  him  grew  out  of  a  re 
markable  experience  resulting  from  his  well-known 
wealth  and  the  nature  of  his  business.  There 
appeared  at  his  office  one  day  while  he  was  in  con 
versation  with  Laidlaw  on  a  matter  of  business, 
a  man  named  Norcross,  carrying  a  satchel.  He 
demanded  a  large  sum  of  money.  He  told  Mr. 
Sage  that  a  bomb  was  in  his  satchel  and  that  unless 
the  money  was  forthcoming  he  would  drop  the 
satchel  and  explode  the  bomb.  Mr.  Sage  endeav 
ored  to  put  him  off  by  some  well-conceived  excuse, 
hoping  to  gain  delay  and  an  opportunity  to  evade 
danger.  In  so  doing,  Mr.  Laidlaw  claimed  that  Mr. 
Sage  drew  him  in  front  of  him,  and  thus  wrongfully 
interposed  his  body  as  a  shield,  taking  him  from  a 
place  of  safety  and  exposing  him  to  danger.  As 
Norcross  would  not  be  denied,  and  Mr.  Sage's  ex 
pedients  were  unsuccessful,  the  satchel  was  dropped, 
the  bomb  exploded,  Norcross  was  killed  and  Laid 
law  severely  injured.  Mr.  Sage  escaped  with  slight 
scratches.  Laidlaw  received  on  two  trials  heavy 
verdicts— $40,000  and  $25,000— but  these  were  set 
aside,  and  his  case  ultimately  failed. 


THE  LAWYER  203 

On  two  of  these  trials  Mr.  Choate  was  counsel  for 
Laidlaw,  and  his  cross-examinations  of  Mr.  Sage 
were  very  amusing  as  well  as  brilliant  intellectual 
feats,  contributing  largely  to  the  verdicts  awarded. 
But  Mr.  Choate,  evidently,  did  not  take  into  careful 
consideration,  at  the  last  trial,  what  were  the  limits 
of  a  legitimate  cross-examination,  and  the  Court  of 
Appeals  decided  that  he  had  transcended  them,  and 
set  aside  the  verdicts.  Nevertheless  this  contest 
of  wits  between  the  shrewd  old  financier  and  the 
witty  and  acute  lawyer  affords  a  striking  illustra 
tion  of  Mr.  Choate 7s  power  in  dealing  with  a  very 
difficult  witness.  While  the  cross-examinations  as 
a  whole  are  well  worth  perusal,  the  following  ex 
tracts  will  be  sufficient  to  disclose  their  general 
character. 

When  the  direct  examination  of  Mr.  Sage  was  con 
cluded  Mr.  Choate  rose  from  his  chair,  sat  on  a 
table  back  of  the  counsel  table,  swung  his  legs  idly, 
regarded  the  witness  smilingly  and  then  asked  in 
an  unusually  low  voice : 

" Where  do  you  reside,  Mr.  Sage!" 

"At  506  Fifth  Avenue,"  answered  the  witness. 

"And  what  is  your  age  now?  Still  in  a  very  low 
tone. 

"Seventy-seven  years,"  Mr.  Sage  said  promptly. 

Then  Mr.  Choate  demanded,  with  a  sudden  rais 
ing  of  his  voice,  "Do  you  ordinarily  hear  as  well  as 
you  have  heard  the  two  questions  you  have  an 
swered?" 


204  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

The  witness  looked  a  bit  surprised  and  answered 
in  an  almost  inaudible  voice,  "Why,  yes." 

Q. — Did  you  lose  your  voice  by  the  explosion? 
A.— No. 

Q. — You  spoke  louder  when  you  were  in  Congress, 
did  you  not?  A. — I  may  have. 

Mr.  Choate,  resuming  a  conversational  tone,  be 
gan  an  unexpected  line  of  questions  by  asking  in  a 
small-talk  voice:  "What  jewelry  do  you  ordinarily 
wear,  Mr.  Sage?"  The  witness  answered  that  he 
was  not  in  the  habit  of  wearing  jewelry. 

Q. — But  you  wear  a  watch?    A. — Yes. 

Q. — And  ordinarily  carry  it  as  you  carry  the 
one  you  have  at  present  in  your  left  vest  pocket? 
A. — Yes — yes,  I  suppose  so. 

Q. — Was  your  watch  hurt  by  the  explosion?  A. 
— I  believe  not. 

Q. — It  was  not  even  stopped  by  the  explosion 
which  perforated  your  vest  with  missiles,  was  it? 
A. — I  don't  know;  I  don't  remember  about  that. 

The  witness  did  not  quite  enjoy  this  line  of  ques 
tioning,  and  swung  his  eyeglasses  as  if  he  were  a 
little  nervous.  Mr.  Choate,  after  regarding  him  in 
silence  for  some  time,  said:  "I  see  you  wear 
glasses."  The  witness  closed  his  glasses,  and  put 
them  in  his  waistcoat  pocket,  whereupon  Mr.  Choate 
resumed:  "And  when  you  don't  wear  them  you 
carry  them,  I  see,  in  your  vest  pocket.  Were  your 
glasses  hurt  by  that  explosion  which  inflicted  forty- 
seven  wounds  on  your  chest?" 

"I  don't  remember,"  the  witness  replied. 


THE  LAWYER  205 

"You  certainly  would  remember  if  you  had  to 
buy  a  new  pair?" 

If  the  witness  answered  this  question,  his  answer 
was  lost  in  the  laughter  which  the  Court  officer 
could  not  instantly  check. 

Mr.  Choate  next  said,  "These  clothes  we  have 
seen  here,  are  you  sure  they  are  the  same  you  wore 
that  day?" 

"Yes." 

Q. — How  do  you  know?  A. — The  same  as  you 
would  know  any  matter  of  that  kind. 

Q. — Were  you  familiar  with  these  clothes?  A. — 
Yes,  sir. 

Q. — How  long  had  you  worn  them?  A. — Oh,  some 
months. 

Q. — Had  you  not  had  them  three  or  four  years? 
A.— No. 

Q. — You  wore  them  daily  except  on  Sundays? 
A. — I  think  not;  they  were  too  heavy  for  Summer 
wear. 

Q. — Don't  you  remember  looking  out  of  the  win 
dow  that  morning  when  you  got  up  to  see  if  it  was 
cloudy  so  you  would  know  whether  to  wear  an  old 
suit  or  not?  A. — I  don't  remember. 

Q. — Well,  let  that  go.  Now,  how  is  your  general 
health?  A.— Good. 

Q. — Good  as  a  man  of  seventy-seven  could  expect  ? 
A. — Well,  good,  except  for  my  hearing. 

Q. — "And  that  is  impaired  to  the  extent  demon 
strated  here  on  this  cross-examination?"  asked  Mr, 
Choate. 


206  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

The  witness  did  not  answer  this  question,  and, 
after  some  more  kindly  inquiries  regarding  his 
health,  Mr.  Choate  began  an  even  more  intimate 
inquiry  concerning  the  business  career  of  Mr.  Sage. 
He  learned  that  the  millionaire  was  born  in  Verona, 
Oneida  County,  went  to  Troy  when  he  was  eleven 
years  old  and  was  in  business  there  until  1863, 
when  he  came  to  this  city. 

Q. — What  was  your  business  in  Troy?  A. — 
Merchant. 

Q. — What  kind  of  merchant?  A. — Grocer,  and 
was  afterward  engaged  in  banking  and  railroad 
building  there. 

Mr.  Sage  as  a  railroad  builder  excited  Mr. 
Choate 's  liveliest  interest.  He  wanted  to  know  all 
about  that ;  the  name  of  every  road  he  had  aided  or 
helped  to  build,  and  when  he  had  done  this,  with 
whom  he  had  been  associated  in  doing  it.  He  fre 
quently  interrupted  his  torrent  of  questions  by  ex 
plaining  that  he  did  not  wish  to  ask  the  witness  any 
impertinent  questions,  but  merely  wanted  to  test 
his  memory.  The  financier  would  sometimes  say 
that  to  answer  some  questions  he  would  have  to 
refer  to  his  books,  and  when  the  lawyer  would  pre 
tend  great  surprise  that  the  witness  could  not  re 
member  even  the  names  of  roads  he  had  built,  the 
witness  said,  "  Possibly  we  might  differ  as  to  what 
is  aiding  a  road.  Some  I  have  aided  as  a  director, 
and  some  only  as  a  stockholder." 

"No,  we  won't  differ;  we  will  divide  the  ques 
tion,"  Mr.  Choate  said.  "First  name  the  roads  you 


THE  LAWYER  207 

have  aided  in  building  as  a  director,  and  then  the 
roads  you  have  aided  in  building  as  a  stockholder." 
The  witness  either  would  not  or  could  not,  and  after 
worrying  him  with  a  hundred  questions  on  this  line 
Mr.  Choate  finally  exclaimed,  "Well,  we  will  let 
that  go." 

Next  the  cross-examiner  brought  the  witness  to 
a  consideration  of  his  railroad  building  experience 
after  he  left  Troy  and  came  to  New  York.  He  man 
aged,  under  the  license  of  testing  the  memory  of 
the  witness,  to  show  the  jury  the  intimate  financial 
relations  which  had  existed  for  twenty  years  be 
tween  Mr.  Sage  and  Mr.  Gould,  and  finally  asked 
the  witness  how  many  roads  he  had  assisted  in 
building  in  connection  with  Mr.  Gould  as  director 
or  stockholder.  After  some  very  lively  sparring 
witness  thought  that  he  had  been  connected,  in  one 
way  or  another,  with  about  thirty  railroads.  "Name 
them,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Choate.  The  witness  named 
three  and  stopped. 

" There 's  twenty-seven  more,"  said  Mr.  Choate, 
looking  at  his  list.  "Please  hurry.  You  do  busi 
ness  much  faster  than  this  in  your  office.  Go  on." 

Mr.  Sage  said  something  about  a  number  of  auxil 
iary  roads  that  had  been  consolidated,  and  roads 
that  had  merged,  and  unimportant  roads  whose 
directors  met  very  seldom,  and  again  said  some 
thing  about  referring  to  his  books. 

"Your  books  have  nothing  to  do  with  what  I  am 
trying  to  determine,  which  is  a  question  of  your 
memory,"  Mr.  Choate  said. 


208  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

But  the  witness  continued  to  spar,  and  at  last  Mr. 
Choate  exclaimed: 

"Now,  is  it  not  true  that  you  have  millions  and 
millions  of  dollars  in  roads  that  you  have  not  named 
here I n 

All  of  the  counsel  for  the  defense  were  on  their 
feet  objecting  to  this  question,  and  Mr.  Choate  with 
drew  the  question  and  added : 

"Now,  you  can't  remember,  and  won't  you  please 
say  so?"  The  witness  would  not  say  so,  and  Mr. 
Choate  exclaimed:  "Well,  I  give  it  up.  You  say 
you  were  a  banker.  What  kind  of  a  bank  do  you 
run?  Is  it  a  bank  of  deposit?"  The  witness  said 
it  was  not,  and  neither  was  it  a  bank  circulating 
notes.  "Sometimes  I  have  money  to  loan,"  he  said. 

"Oh,  you  are  a  money  lender.  You  buy  puts  and 
calls  and  straddles?"  The  witness  said  that  he 
dealt  in  those  privileges. 

"Kindly  explain  to  the  jury  just  what  puts  and 
calls  and  straddles  are,"  the  lawyer  said  encour 
agingly.  The  witnesss  answered: 

"They  are  means  to  assist  men  of  moderate  capi 
tal  to  operate." 

"A  sort  of  benevolent  institution,  eh?"  queried 
Mr.  Choate. 

"It  is  in  a  sense,"  Mr.  Sage  replied.  "It  gives 
men  of  moderate  means  an  opportunity  to  learn  the 
methods  of  business." 

"Do  you  refer  to  puts  or  calls!" 

"To  both." 

"I  don't  understand." 


THE  LAWYER  209 

"I  thought  you  would  not,"  remarked  the  wit 
ness  with  a  chuckle. 

Mr.  Choate  affected  a  very  puzzled  look  and  asked, 
slowly:  "It  is  something  like  this:  they  call  it,  and 
you  put  it?  If  it  goes  down,  they  get  the  charitable 
benefit;  but  if  it  goes  up,  you  get  it?" 

The  witness  answered  simply:  "I  only  get  what 
I  am  paid  for  the  privilege." 

"Now,  what  is  a  straddle?"  Mr.  Choate  next 
asked. 

"A  straddle,"  replied  Mr.  Sage,  "is  the  privilege 
of  calling  or  putting." 

"Why,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Choate,  with  raised  brows, 
"that  seems  to  me  like  a  game  of  chance !" 

"It's  a  game  of  the  fluctuation  of  the  market." 

"That's  another  way  of  putting  it,"  Mr.  Choate 
commented,  looking  as  if  he  did  not  intend  a  pun. 
Then  he  asked:  "The  market  once  went  very  heavily 
against  you  in  this  game,  did  it  not  ? ' ' 

"Yes,  it  did,"  the  witness  said. 

"That  was  an  occasion  when  your  customers 
could  put,  but  they  could  not  call,  eh?" 

Mr.  Sage  looked  as  if  he  did  not  understand,  and 
made  no  reply. 

This  branch  of  the  question  was  left  in  that  vague 
condition,  and  the  cross-examiner  opened  a  new  sub 
ject  by  unfolding  a  three-column  clipping  from  a 
newspaper  which  was  headed  "A  Chat  with  Eussell 
Sage." 

Q. — The  reporters  called  on  you  soon  after  the 
explosion?  A. — Yes. 


210  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Q. — One  visited  your  house?    A. — Yes. 

Q. — Did  you  read  over  what  he  wrote?    A. — No. 

Q. — Did  you  read  this  after  it  was  printed?  A. — 
I  believe  I  did. 

Q. — Is  it  correct?  A. — Reporters  sometimes 
draw  on  their  imagination. 

It  developed  that  the  article  which  Mr.  Choate 
referred  to  was  written  by  a  grandnephew  of  the 
witness.  When  it  had  thus  been  identified  Mr. 
Choate  again  asked  the  witness  if  the  article  was 
correct. 

Colonel  James  exclaimed:  "Are  you  asking  him 
to  swear  to  the  correctness  of  an  article  from  that 
paper?  Nobody  can  do  that." 

"No,"  Mr.  Choate  quickly  responded:  "I  am 
asking  him  to  point  out  its  errors.  Anyone  can  do 
that." 

"This,"  said  Colonel  James,  gravely,  "is  making 
a  comedy  of  errors." 

The  witness  broke  in  upon  this  little  byplay  with 
the  remark : 

"The  reporter  who  wrote  that  was  only  in  my 
house  five  minutes." 

"Indeed,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Choate  in  astonish 
ment,  waving  the  three-column  clipping,  "he  got  a 
great  deal  out  of  you,  and  that  is  more  than  I  have 
been  able  to  do." 

"That  article,"  said  Mr.  Sage,  "is  a  gross  ex 
aggeration.  I  was  injured  very  seriously,  but  I 
made  no  fuss  about  it.  Most  of  these  racy  newspa 
per  articles  are  exaggerated  anyway.  A  reporter 


THE  LAWYER  211 

jots  down  a  few  notes  and  then  hurries  away  and 
writes  a  page.  Nowadays  we  have  to  be  very  care 
ful  what  we  say/' 

"Take  care,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "the  reporters 
here  are  taking  down  all  you  say  now." 

"I  know  it,"  snapped  Mr.  Sage.  "I'm  saying 
it  for  their  especial  benefit." 

"Now,  Mr.  Sage,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "were  you 
cool  and  collected  in  the  presence  of  Norcross?" 

"As  cool  as  I  could  be." 

"Did  you  do  anything  without  deliberation,  spon 
taneously,  or  unconsciously  from  the  time  you  read 
Norcross 's  note  until  the  explosion?" 

"I  exercised  my  best  judgment  to  avoid  any  acci 
dent." 

"Was  everything  done  with  deliberation?" 

"It  was.  But  why  do  you  ask  that  same  old 
question?"  said  Mr.  Sage  irritably.  "You've  al 
ready  asked  it  four  times." 

"But  this  is  the  fourth  trial,  Mr.  Sage,"  said  Mr. 
Choate,  "and  we  can't  keep  these  things  fresh  and 
original  all  the  time.  Now,  were  not  your  hands 
badly  burned  by  the  explosion?" 

"They  were." 

"Well,  show  the  scars  to  the  jury." 

"There  are  no  scars  on  my  hands,  but  there  were 
at  the  last  trial;  anyway,  I  showed  the  jury  my 
hands  yesterday." 

"And  you  are  sure  that  none  have  grown  there 
since  the  last  trial?" 

Mr.  Sage  didn't  deign  to  answer. 


212  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

An  extract  from  the  article  was  read  as  follows: 
"Mr.  Sage  looks  hale  and  hearty  for  an  old  man; 
looks  good  for  many  years  of  life  yet." 

"Is  that  true?"  asked  Mr.  Choate. 

The  witness  replied:  "We  all  try  to  hold  on  as 
long  as  we  can." 

"You  speak  for  yourself  when  you  say,  'We  all 
try  to  hold  on  to  all  that  we  can,'  "  Mr.  Choate 
commented,  but  Colonel  James  remarked  gravely, 
"Counsel  has  misquoted  the  witness.  He  said  'We 
try  to  hold  on  as  long.'  " 

Mr.  Sage  was  next  asked  if  the  article  was  cor 
rect  when  it  referred  to  him  as  looking  like  a  war 
rior  after  the  battle.  He  thought  the  statement  was 
overdrawn.  The  article  referred  to  Mr.  Sage  hav 
ing  shaved  himself  that  morning,  which  was  three 
days  after  the  explosion;  and  when  he  had  read 
that,  Mr.  Choate  asked:  "Did  you  have  any  wounds 
at  that  time  that  a  visitor  could  see?"  The  witness 
replied  that  both  of  his  hands  were  then  bandaged. 

"How  did  you  shave  yourself  then,  with  your 
feet?" 

At  this  point  an  adjournment  was  taken  until  the 
following  morning  when  the  old  financier  again 
took  the  witness  stand.  Mr.  Choate  resumed  the 
cross-examination  by  asking  pleasantly:  "I  hope 
you  are  very  well  this  morning?" 

"I  am,"  replied  Mr.  Sage. 

' '  Can  you  tell  me  how  the  drapery  back  of  Judge 
Patterson  is  caught  back?"  the  lawyer  next  asked. 

"I  cannot,"  answered  the  witness. 


THE  LAWYER  213 

"Yet,"  Mr.  Choate  said,  "it  is  at  the  same  angle 
back  of  you  that  Norton  was  when  you  retreated 
from  Norcross?" 

The  answer  of  the  witness  could  not  be  heard  by 
anyone,  and  the  jury  asked  that  he  speak  louder. 
Judge  Patterson  said  to  Mr.  Sage:  "You  have  been 
admonished  several  times  to  speak  louder." 

"I  have  a  slight  cold,"  the  witness  said. 

Mr.  Choate 's  advice  was:  "Just  imagine  yourself 
in  the  Stock  Exchange  making  a  bargain." 

Mr.  Choate  produced  a  diagram  and  asked  the 
witness  to  point  out  the  spot  where  the  clerk  Norton 
stood  while  the  witness  was  retreating  from  the 
dynamiter.  When  Mr.  Sage  had  indicated  a  spot, 
Mr.  Choate  said,  "Be  careful;  better  put  on  your 
glasses;  you  are  getting  yourself  into  trouble."  The 
witness  insisted,  "Norton  stood  there." 

"And  you  saw  him!" 

"Yes." 

Mr.  Choate  dodged  behind  the  witness,  who  was 
standing  up  at  the  time,  and  exclaimed,  "Can 
you  see  me!"  Mr.  Sage  ignored  the  question  and 
sat  down  again.  The  lawyer  next  asked  this  ques 
tion: 

"Did  you  or  did  you  not  think  you  had  a  most 
desperate  man  to  deal  with?" 

The  witness  answered  several  times  that  he  had 
not  said  so  to  the  reporter,  but  the  lawyer  wanted  to 
know  whether  he  had  thought  so,  because  he  (Mr. 
Choate)  had  a  notion  that  the  reporter  was  a  clair 
voyant.  The  witness  evaded  giving  a  direct  answer 


214  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

until  sharply  ordered  to  do  so  by  the  judge.  Then 
he  said,  "Yes." 

"Was  it  a  relief  to  you  to  see  Laidlaw  enter  the 
office  when  you  were  talking  with  Norcross?" 

The  witness  replied:  "No,  and  if  Laidlaw  had 
stayed  out  in  the  lobby  instead  of  going  into  my 
office  he  would  have  been  by  Norcross  when  the  ex 
plosion  took  place." 

"Then  you  think  Laidlaw  is  indebted  to  you  for 
saving  his  life  instead  of  your  being  indebted  to 
him  for  saving  yours?"  Mr.  Choate  asked. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  witness  decidedly. 

"Ah,  that  makes  it  a  very  simple  case  then,"  the 
lawyer  commented. 

The  witness  volunteered  a  piece  of  evidence.  He 
said  that  he  was  not  thrown  down  by  the  explosion, 
but  sat  down  where  the  desk  had  been. 

"But,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "your  clerk  says  that 
there  was  no  desk  there  after  the  explosion." 

The  witness  said  that  his  clerk  had  gone  into 
the  office  after  the  police  had  thrown  the  debris  into 
Rector  Street. 

"Did  you,"  Mr.  Choate  asked,  bring  your  clerk 
here  to  testify  as  to  the  condition  of  the  office  after 
the  police  had  cleared  it  out  I 

"I  did  not  bring  him  here;  my  counsel  did." 

"I  see;  you  don't  do  any  barking  when  you  have 
a  dog  to  do  it  for  you,"  Mr.  Choate  said. 

Lawyers  Dillon  and  James  looked  up,  and  Colonel 
James  asked  gravely,  "Which  of  us  is  referred  to 
as  the  dog?"  Mr.  Choate  replied:  "Oh,  all  of  us." 


THE  LAWYER  215 

Mr.  Choate 's  next  question  referred  to  the  dia 
gram  which  had  been  in  use  up  to  that  point.  He 
asked  the  witness  if  it  was  correct.  Mr.  Sage  re 
plied:  "I  think  it  is  not  quite  correct;  not  quite; 
if  the  jury  will  go  down  there,  I'd  be  glad  to  have 
them  go;  be  glad  to  do  anything.  If  the  jury  will 
go  down  there  I'd  be  glad  to  furnish  them  trans 
portation,  if  they  will  go." 

Mr.  Choate: — If  you  won't  furnish  anything  but 
transportation  they  won't  go. 

The  Witness : — It  is  substantially  correct.  I  had 
a  diagram  made,  and  I  offered  an  opportunity  to 
Mr.  Laidlaw's  counsel  to  have  a  correct  one  made, 
for  I  never  withheld  anything  from  anybody. 

The  diagram  which  Mr.  Sage  had  prepared  was 
produced,  and,  upon  examination,  it  was  seen  not  to 
contain  the  lines  indicating  a  certain  rail,  and  had 
some  inaccuracies  which  did  not  seem  to  amount  to 
much,  but  Mr.  Choate  appeared  to  be  very  much 
impressed  with  these  differences. 

"I  want  you,"  he  said  to  the  witness,  "to  recon 
cile  your  testimony  with  your  own  diagram."  The 
witness  looked  at  the  diagram  for  some  time,  and 
Mr.  Choate,  observing  him,  remarked:  "You  will 
have  to  make  a  straddle  to  reconcile  that,  won't 
you?" 

Some  marks  and  signs  of  erasures  were  seen  on 
the  Sage  diagram,  which  gave  Mr.  Choate  an  oppor 
tunity  to  ask  in  a  sensational  tone  if  anyone  could 
inform  him  who  had  been  tampering  with  it. 

No  one  could  and  the  diagram  was  dropped,  and 


216  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  subject  of  the  tattered  suit  of  clothes  taken  up 
again.  Mr.  Choate  asked: 

Q. — What  tailor  did  you  employ  at  the  time  of  the 
explosion?  A. — Several. 

Q. — Name  them,  I  want  to  follow  up  those  clothes. 
A. — Tailor  Jessup  made  the  coat  and  vest. 

Q. — Where  is  his  place?    A. — On  Broadway. 

Q. — Is  he  there  now?  A. — Oh  no,  he's  gone  to 
heaven. 

Q. — To  heaven,  where  all  good  tailors  go.  Who 
made  the  trousers?  A. — I  can't  tell  where  I  might 
have  bought  them. 

Q. — Bought  them.  You  don't  buy  ready-made 
trousers,  do  you?  A. — I  do  sometimes.  I  get  bet 
ter  fit. 

Q.—Get  benefit?    A.— No,  better  fit. 

Q. — Where  is  the  receipt  for  them?  A. — I  have 
none. 

Q. — Do  you  pay  money  without  receipts?  A. — I 
do  sometimes. 

Q. — Indeed?  A. — Yes;  you  don't  take  a  receipt 
for  your  hat. 

Mr.  Choate  became  the  witness  now,  and  answered 
that  he  did,  and  the  witness  asked  the  lawyer:  "Do 
you  take  a  receipt  for  a  pair  of  boots?"  and  Mr. 
Choate  answered,  "Always." 

The  vest  was  then  produced,  and  two  holes  in  the 
outer  cloth  were  shown  by  Mr.  Choate,  who  asked 
the  witness  if  those  were  the  places  where  the  flying 
substances  entered  which  penetrated  his  body.  The 
witness  replied  that  they  were,  and  Mr.  Choate  next 


THE  LAWYER  217 

asked  him  if  he  had  the  vest  relined.  Mr.  Sage  re 
plied  that  he  had  not.  "How  is  it,  then,"  Mr. 
Choate  asked,  passing  the  vest  to  the  jury  with  great 
satisfaction,  "that  these  holes  do  not  penetrate  the 
lining  V9  The  witness  said  that  he  could  not  explain 
that,  but  insisted  that  that  was  the  vest,  and  it  would 
have  to  speak  for  itself.  Mr.  Choate  again  took  the 
vest  and  counted  six  holes  on  the  cloth  of  the  other 
side,  and  asked  the  witness  if  that  count  was  right. 
Mr.  Sage  replied,  "I'll  take  your  count, "  and  then 
he  caused  a  laugh  by  suddenly  reaching  out  for  the 
vest  and  saying,  "if  you  have  no  objection,  though, 
I'd  like  to  see  it." 

Q. — Now,  are  not  three  of  those  holes  moth-eaten! 
A. — I  think  not. 

Q. — Are  you  a  judge  of  moth-eaten  goods?  A. — 
No. 

Q. — Where  is  the  shirt  you  wore!  A. — Destroyed. 

Q.— By  whom?    A.— The  cook. 

Q. — The  cook?    A. — I  mean  the  laundress. 

The  vest  was  passed  to  the  jury  for  their  inspec 
tion,  and  the  jurymen  got  into  an  eager  whispered 
discussion  as  to  whether  certain  of  the  holes  were 
moth-eaten  or  not.  There  was  a  tailor  on  the  jury. 
Observing  the  discussion,  Mr.  Choate  took  back  the 
garment  and  said  in  his  most  winning  way:  "Now, 
we  don't  want  the  jury  to  disagree,  you  know."  He 
next  held  up  the  coat,  which  is  very  much  more  in 
jured  in  the  tails  than  in  the  front,  and  asked  the 
witness  how  he  accounted  for  that. 

"It  is  one  of  the  freaks  of  electricity,"  answered 


218  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  witness,  who  frequently  spoke  of  electricity  in 
connection  with  the  explosion.  Mr.  Choate's  com 
ment  was,  "And  the  freaks  of  electricity  and  dyna 
mite  are  one  of  those  things  no  fellow  can  find  out." 

The  witness  could  not  recall  how  much  he  had 
paid  for  the  coat  or  for  any  of  the  garments,  and, 
after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  identify  the  maker 
of  the  trousers  by  the  name  on  the  button,  which 
proved  to  be  the  name  of  the  button  maker,  the  old 
clothes  were  temporarily  laid  at  rest,  and  Mr. 
Choate  asked  the  witness  how  long  he  had  been  un 
conscious.  He  replied  that  he  thought  he  was  un 
conscious  two  seconds. 

Q. — How  do  you  know  you  were  not  unconscious 
ten  minutes?  A. — Only  from  what  Mr.  Weston 
says. 

Q. — Where  is  he?    A. — On  the  street. 

Q. — On  Chambers  Street,  downstairs!  A. — No, 
on  Wall  Street. 

Q. — Oh,  I  forgot  that  the  street  to  you  means 
Wall  Street.  Were  you  not  up  and  dressed  every 
day  after  the  explosion?  A. — I  can't  remember. 

Q. — You  did  business  every  day?  A. — Colonel 
Slocum  and  my  nephew  called  on  me  about  business, 
and  my  counsel  looked  after  some  missing  papers 
and  bonds. 

Q. — You  then  held  some  Missouri  Pacific  collat 
eral  trust  bonds?  A. — Yes. 

Q. — How  many?     A. — Can't  say. 

Q. — Can't  you  tell  within  a  limit  of  from  ten  to 
one  thousand?  A. — No. 


THE  LAWYER  219 

Q. — Nor  within  one  hundred  to  two  hundred? 
A.— No. 

Q. — Is  it  because  you  have  too  little  memory  or 
too  many  bonds!  How  many  loans  did  you  have 
out  at  that  time?  A. — I  can't  tell. 

Q.— Can  you  tell  within  $200,000  the  amount  then 
due  from  your  largest  creditor?  A. — I — any  man 
doing  the  business  I  am 

Q. — Oh,  there  is  no  other  man  like  you  in  the 
world.  Now  you  can't  tell  within  $200,000  the 
amount  of  the  largest  loan  you  then  had  out,  but 
you  set  up  your  memory  against  Laidlaw's?  A. — 
I  do. 

Q. — Were  you  not  very  excited?  A. — I  was  thank 
ful  I  was  so  self -poised.  I  did  not  believe  his  dyna 
mite  would  do  much  damage  or  that  he  would  sacri 
fice  himself. 

Q. — Never  heard  of  a  man  killing  himself?  A. — 
Not  in  that  way.  Inspector  Byrnes  tells  me  that  in 
the  history  of  jurisprudence  there  is  no  such  case 
as  this. 

While  the  witness  was  giving  this  last  answer, 
Mr.  Choate  was  reading  a  paper.  He  looked  up  at 
the  word  " jurisprudence,"  and  asked  the  stenogra 
pher  to  have  the  answer  read  to  him.  When  this 
was  done,  Mr.  Choate  said:  "I  move  to  strike  out 
Superintendent  Byrnes 's  opinion.  He  is  a  high 
authority,  but  in  this  case  I  prefer  the  opinion  of 
the  witness." 

Mr.  Choate 's  use  of  the  Bible  in  his  summing  up 
to  the  jury  made  it  of  the  highest  service  merely  as 


220  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

a  law  book.  He  drew  from  it  a  scripture  argument 
which  had  a  tremendous  effect  on  the  jury.  That 
the  Bible  is  still  a  living  book  Mr.  Choate  showed 
by  his  sermon  on  Dives  and  Lazarus  which  will  live 
in  the  records  of  jury  trials  as  one  of  the  most  origi 
nal  of  its  kind.  It  was  a  dramatic  moment  when  this 
great  lawyer  instead  of  opening  a  law  book  in  ad 
dressing  the  jury,  procured  the  Court  Bible  and 
read  from  Luke's  Gospel  the  story  of  the  rich  man 
and  the  beggar.  He  made  a  personal  application 
of  it  by  turning  to  Sage  and  exclaiming:  " There 
comes  the  rich  man,  and  here  is  the  poor  man  still 
bearing  sores  he  suffered  in  protecting  him/'  The 
result  was  a  verdict  against  Sage  for  $40,000, 
$15,000  more  than  on  the  first  trial. 

About  this  time  a  story  went  the  rounds  of  a 
reporter  calling  upon  him  for  some  fresh  informa 
tion  about  himself.  He  had  not  only  handled  Mr. 
Sage  without  gloves,  but  in  a  recent  trial  had  con 
siderably  ruffled  the  feathers  of  Mrs.  Hetty  Green. 
"Well,"  he  replied  to  the  reporter's  request,  "if 
you  want  something  in  addition  to  what  has  ap 
peared  in  print  I  suggest  that  you  interview  Mr. 
Russell  Sage  and  Mrs.  Hetty  Green." 

When  his  nomination  as  Ambassador  to  the  Court 
of  St.  James  was  sent  to  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  Sage 
heard  the  news,  he  asked  if  it  was  really  true  that 
Choate  was  going  to  the  English  Court.  On  being 
assured  that  it  was  undoubtedly  true  Sage  looked 


THE  LAWYER  221 

heavenward  and  exclaimed,  fervently,  "Well,.  God 
save  the  Queen. " 

The  greatest  case  in  which  he  ever  engaged,  and 
the  greatest  victory  he  ever  won,  was  in  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  cases 
brought  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  the  Income 
Tax  law.  The  Act  was  attacked  as  unconstitutional 
because  the  Constitution  provided  that  direct  taxes 
should  be  apportioned  among  the  States,  according 
to  representation,  while  this  Act  levied  taxes  upon 
income,  from  whatever  source  derived,  indiscrimi 
nately,  upon  all  alike,  without  such  apportionment; 
that  a  tax  upon  income  derived  from  rents  of  land 
was  a  tax  upon  the  land  from  which  the  rent  was 
derived,  and  was,  therefore,  a  direct  tax  within  the 
meaning  of  the  Constitution ;  that  the  same  was  true 
of  the  income  of  personal  property  and  that  income 
derived  from  stocks  and  bonds  of  the  United  States 
and  States,  counties,  and  municipalities  were 
exempt  from  federal  taxation. 

To  impugn  the  constitutionality  of  the  Income 
Tax  seemed  hopeless.  Such  a  tax  had  been  levied 
and  collected  during  the  Civil  War.  The  Supreme 
Court  had  then  decided  it  to  be  constitutional.  Yet 
in  the  face  of  the  doctrine  of  stare  decisis,  Mr. 
Choate  took  his  audacity  in  both  hands,  as  the 
French  say,  and  presented  an  argument  of  such 
cogency  that  the  Court  was  led  to  do  the  almost 
unprecedented  thing  of  reversing  a  judgment  of  its 
own.  "Some  things  can  be  done  as  well  as  some 
other  things, ' '  was  the  comment  of  Mr.  Choate  upon 


222  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

receiving  the  congratulations  of  the  Bar  on  his  un 
paralleled  and  unlooked-for  success. 

The  case  was  of  national  importance,  and  aroused 
keen  interest  throughout  our  country.  The  Attor 
ney-General  (Richard  Olney)  and  James  C.  Carter 
represented  the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Choate  was 
leading  counsel  in  opposition  to  the  Income  Tax. 
The  argument  attracted  throngs  of  spectators, 
among  them  many  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
in  our  national  life.  It  was  a  rare  occasion  occupy 
ing  several  days,  and  the  argument  was  followed 
throughout  with  the  deepest  interest  by  those 
fortunate  enough  to  gain  admission. 

Mr.  Choate 's  junior  counsel  made  the  opening  ar 
guments,  and  were  followed  by  Mr.  Olney  and  Mr. 
Carter.  Mr.  Choate 's  argument  was  made  in  reply 
to  them.  He  adopted  his  characteristic  vein  of  hu 
mor,  and  began  as  follows : 

"If  the  Court  please :  After  Jupiter  had  thundered 
all  around  the  sky,  and  had  leveled  everything  and 
everybody  by  his  prodigious  bolts,  Mercury  came 
out  from  his  hiding-place  and  looked  around  to  see 
how  much  damage  had  been  done.  He  was  quite 
familiar  with  the  weapons  of  his  Olympian  friend. 
He  had  often  felt  their  force,  but  he  knew  that  it 
was  largely  stage  thunder,  manufactured  for  the 
particular  occasion,  and  he  went  his  round  among 
the  inhabitants  of  Olympus,  restoring  the  conscious 
ness  and  dispelling  the  fears  of  both  gods  (with 


THE  LAWYER  223 

a  bow  to  the  Court),  and  men  that  had  been  pros 
trated  by  the  crash.  It  is  in  that  spirit  that  I  follow 
my  distinguished  friend;  and  shall  not  undertake 
to  cope  with  him  by  means  of  the  same  weapons, 
because  I  am  not  master  of  them. 

"It  never  would  have  occurred  to  me  to  present, 
either  as  an  opening  or  closing  argument,  to  this 
great  and  learned  Court,  that  if,  in  their  wisdom, 
they  found  it  necessary  to  protect  a  suitor  who 
sought  here  to  cling  to  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
and  invoke  the  protection  of  the  Constitution,  which 
was  created  for  us  all,  against  your  furnishing  that 
relief  and  protection  that,  possibly,  the  popular 
wrath  might  sweep  the  Court  away.  It  is  the  first 
time  I  ever  heard  that  argument  presented  to 
this  or  any  other  Court,  and  I  trust  it  will  be  the 
last. 

"Now,  I  have  had  some  surprises  this  morning. 
I  thought  until  to-day  that  there  was  a  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  business  of  the 
executive  arm  (turning  to  the  Attorney  General) 
was  to  uphold  that  Constitution.  I  thought  that 
this  Court  was  created  for  the  purpose  of  main 
taining  the  Constitution  as  against  unlawful  con 
duct  on  the  part  of  Congress.  It  is  news  to  me  that 
Congress  is  the  sole  judge  of  the  measure  of  the 
powers  confided  to  it  by  the  Constitution,  and  it  is 
also  news  to  me  that  that  great  fundamental  prin 
ciple  that  underlies  the  Constitution,  namely,  the 
equality  of  all  men  before  the  law,  has  ceased  to 
exist. " 


224  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Mr.  Carter,  Mr.  Choate  remarked,  had  said  that 
in  the  convention  which  framed  the  Constitution 
there  was  one  ever-present  fear.  This  was  that  by 
a  combination  of  States  an  unjust  tax  might  be  put 
upon  a  single  State  or  a  little  group  of  States.  Mr. 
Choate  directed  the  attention  of  the  Court  as  to 
how  the  present  law  would  strike.  In  1873  Massa 
chusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 
paid  four-fifths  of  the  tax  on  incomes  above  $2,000. 
What  was  their  political  representation  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  which  only  can  initiate  the 
passage  of  revenue  bills?  Eighty-three  out  of  356, 
or  a  little  less  than  one-fourth.  The  increase  of 
exemption  from  $2,000  to  $4,000,  Mr.  Choate  said, 
would  bear  upon  those  States  with  vastly  greater 
force,  so  that  they  would  pay  nineteen-twentieths 
of  the  tax  under  a  law  "imposed  upon  them  by  other 
States,  who,  as  the  chief  justice  has  quickly  seen 
in  the  course  of  the  argument,  will  not  bear  a  dollar 
of  it." 

This  iniquitous  result,  Mr.  Choate  said,  had  been 
brought  about  by  an  express  violation  of  two  of 
the  leading  prohibitive  restraints  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  despite  the  contention  of  the  Attorney 
General  and  his  associates  that  this  state  of  things 
could  not  be  helped,  Mr.  Choate  thought  it  could. 
The  main  argument  presented  by  Mr.  Carter  in 
support  of  the  law  was  that  the  men  upon  whom 
it  was  imposed  were  too  rich.  He  claimed  that 
$20,000  might  have  been  made  the  minimum  of  ex-, 
emption  in  the  law,  and  that  there  would  have  been 


THE  LAWYER  225 

no  help  for  it.  He  said  in  his  brief  that  although 
we  could  not  tax  John  Jones  by  name,  however  rich 
he  may  be,  we  could  make  a  class  to  designate  him 
and  so  tax  him.  "Now,"  continued  Mr.  Choate, 
"if  you  approve  this  law,  with  this  iniquitous  ex 
emption  of  $4,000,  and  this  communistic  march  goes 
on,  and  five  years  hence  they  come  to  you  with  an 
exemption  of  $20,000  and  a  tax  of  20  per  cent.,  how 
can  you  meet  it,  in  view  of  the  decision  they  ask 
you  to  render?  There  is  protection  now  or  never 
under  this  law.  You  cannot  reserve  the  limit,  and 
my  learned  friend  says  you  cannot  apply  any  limit. 
He  says  that  no  matter  what  Congress  does  in  the 
matter  of  a  limit;  if  in  their  views  of  so-called — 
what  did  he  call  it  1  Sociology!  Political  Economy? 
— they  say  a  limit  of  a  minimum  of  $20,000  or  a 
minimum  of  $100,000,  this  Court  will  have  nothing 
to  say  about  it.  I  agree  that  it  will  have  nothing 
to  say  if  it  lets  go  its  hold  upon  this  law — upon  a 
law  passed  for  such  a  purpose,  accomplishing  such 
a  result  by  such  means.  I  thought  that  the  funda 
mental  object  of  all  civilized  government  was  the 
preservation  of  the  right  of  private  property.  That 
is  what  Mr.  Webster  said  at  Plymouth  Rock  in 
1820,  and  I  supposed  that  all  educated,  civilized 
men  believed  it.  According  to  the  doctrines  that 
have  been  propounded  here  this  morning,  even  that 
great  fundamental  principle  has  been  scattered  to 
the  wind. 

"Washington  and  Franklin  were  alive  to  that 
sacred  principle,  and  if  they  could  have  foreseen 


226  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

that  in  a  short  time — for  what  were  115  years  in 
the  life  of  the  Republic — it  would  be  claimed  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  that,  not  de 
spite  that  Constitution,  but  by  means  of  it,  they  had 
helped  to  create  a  combination  of  States  that  could 
pass  a  law  for  breaking  into  the  strong  boxes  of  the 
citizens  of  other  States,  and  giving  out  the  wealth 
of  everybody  worth  more  than  $100,000  for  general 
distribution  throughout  the  country,  they  would 
both  have  been  keen  to  erase  their  signatures  from 
an  instrument  that  would  result  in  such  conse 
quences.  The  spirit  that  invaded  the  Halls  of  Con 
gress  is  seeking  to  throw  up  its  intrenchments  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  If  this 
law  is  upheld,  the  first  parapet  would  be  carried, 
and  then  it  would  be  easy  to  overcome  the  whole 
fortress  on  which  the  rights  of  the  people  depend. " 

This  extract  from  the  commencement  of  his  ar 
gument  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  simplicity  and 
directness,  tinged  with  delicate  humor,  with  which 
he  appealed  to  those  master  minds  on  the  Bench. 
Thus  he  secured  their  interested  attention,  and, 
having  secured  it,  was  able  to  hold  it  in  discussing 
the  profound  subjects  involved. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  follow  Mr.  Choate  through 
his  elaborate  and  effective  argument,  especially  as 
an  outline  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  case  as  reported 
in  157  United  States  Reports  at  p.  522. 

The  Supreme  Court  held  the  case  under  advise 
ment  eleven  months,  and  then  annulled  the  Act  in 
respect  only  of  the  involuntary  payment  of  the  tax 


THE  LAWYER  227 

on  the  rents  and  income  of  real  estate  and  the  in 
come  from  municipal  bonds.  This  was  an  impor 
tant  step  gained,  but  it  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Choate 
and  his  associates.  As  to  the  remaining  questions, 
the  Court  being  equally  divided  in  opinion,  the  de 
cision  of  the  lower  Court  as  to  them  was  sustained. 
A  petition  was,  therefore,  presented  for  a  rehearing 
upon  the  ground  that  there  had  been  no  authorita 
tive  decision  on  these  points.  As  Mr.  Choate  ex 
pressed  it,  the  real  basis  of  this  application  was  that 
as  the  Court  had  annulled  an  important  part  of 
the  Act,  they  should  not  stop  there,  but  go  on  and 
annul  the  rest  of  it.  This  was,  indeed,  the  gist  of 
Mr.  Choate 's  argument.  His  plea  for  the  annul 
ment  of  the  Act,  on  the  ground  that  the  Court's 
decision  on  the  former  hearing  had  mutilated  it  so 
that  it  ought  not  to  remain  a  law  in  its  mutilated 
shape,  was  the  strongest  part  of  his  argument. 
Having  succeeded  in  mutilating  the  Act  at  the  for 
mer  hearing,  he  proceeded  cheerfully  to  the  work 
of  destroying  what  was  left  of  it. 

Just  before  he  began  his  argument,  a  supple 
mental  historical  brief  of  the  Assistant  Attorney 
General  was  distributed,  affording  Mr.  Choate  an 
opportunity  to  amuse  the  Court  by  saying  that  he 
could  not  learn  one  hundred  pages  of  history  in 
five  minutes,  and,  therefore,  he  could  not  tell  what 
had  been  added  to  the  general  stock  of  historical 
knowledge ;  and  he  caused  much  merriment  when  he 
added  that  he  had  heard  what  the  Assistant  Attor 
ney  General  had  to  say  in  regard  to  it  in  his  speech, 


228  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

when  he  stated,  in  effect,  that  he  would  illuminate 
the  path  of  the  Court  backward  as  it  retreated  from 
the  decision  already  made. 

Mr.  Choate  's  argument  was  based  upon  a  decision 
in  Massachusetts  by  Chief  Justice  Shaw,  which,  in 
substance  was,  that  when  parts  of  an  Act  of  Con 
gress  are  declared  unconstitutional,  the  other  parts 
of  the  same  Act  not  so  condemned  may  remain  in 
force  and  operate  as  law,  providing  always,  that 
such  remaining  parts  are  independent  of  those  con 
demned  by  the  Court.  But  in  an  act  in  which  all  of 
the  different  parts  are  dependent  on  each  other, 
and  in  which  the  elimination  of  one  or  more  clauses 
might  alter  the  nature  and  effect  of  the  others,  the 
condemnation,  on  constitutional  grounds,  of  one  or 
more  clauses  must  cause  the  entire  Act  to  fail.  This 
decision  was  supported,  to  some  extent,  by  two  cases 
in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Choate  pointed  out  to  the  Justices  that,  under 
Chief  Justice  Shaw's  decision,  they  must  annul  the 
income  tax  entirely,  unless  they  could  clearly  see 
that  Congress  would  have  passed  the  Act  in  the 
form  their  recent  decision  had  left  it.  Having 
stated  this  fact,  and  read  Chief  Justice  Shaw's 
ruling,  Mr.  Choate  branched  out  into  a  very  able 
demonstration  of  the  fact  that  Congress  would 
never  have  passed  an  Income  Tax  law  had  it  known 
how  the  Supreme  Court  was  going  to  mutilate  it, 
and  that  so  mutilated  it  was  to  be  applied  to  the 
taxpayers. 

He  reminded  the  Court  that  the  one  particular 


THE  LAWYER  229 

object  of  the  Congressional  lawmakers  had  been  to 
strike  at  accumulated  wealth  represented  by  real 
estate.  He  reminded  them  that,  in  Congress,  one 
particular  man  (he  meant  William  Waldorf  Astor), 
living  abroad,  had  been  the  special  object  of  legis 
lative  attacks.  This  man,  he  said,  owns  squares  and 
acres  of  New  York  City,  but  under  the  decision  of 
the  Court,  at  its  former  hearing  on  this  law,  he  and 
his  income  and  his  accumulated  wealth  had  slipped 
through  the  fingers  of  the  Congress  that  meant  to 
tax  him. 

Congress,  Mr.  Choate  declared,  would  have  never 
passed  an  income  tax  exempting  the  income  of  such 
a  man  as  this.  Under  Chief  Justice  Shaw's  de 
cision,  the  Supreme  Court  must  annul  the  entire 
Income  Tax  law,  since  it  had  annulled  a  clause  which 
the  makers  of  the  law  would  have  considered  vital. 

Mr.  Choate  drew  a  very  effective  picture  of  the 
mangled  law  as  it  would  work  after  passing  through 
the  hands  of  the  Supreme  Court.  "Land  owners 
escape, "  he  said;  " bondholders  escape,  and  I  think 
that  under  your  Honor's  decision  owners  of  incomes 
from  personal  property  will  escape." 

Mr.  Choate 's  argument  at  the  first  hearing  was  a 
plea  to  release  the  big  fish,  including  the  rich  man 
whom  he  mentioned  as  living  across  the  water.  His 
plea  to  the  Court  now,  to  use  his  own  words,  was : 
' l  The  biggest  fish  have  got  out  through  the  rent  that 
your  Honors  have  made  in  the  meshes  of  the  tax. 
Will  you  allow  the  little  fish  to  be  alone  made  the 
victims!" 


230  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

That  Mr.  Choate  fully  realized  the  importance  of 
the  case,  and  the  responsibility  he  was  under,  is 
manifested  in  his  closing  sentences : 

"I  have  felt  the  responsibility  of  this  case  as  I 
have  never  felt  one  before,  and  never  expect  to  again. 
I  do  not  believe  any  member  of  this  Court  has 
ever  sat,  or  ever  will  sit,  to  hear  and  decide  a 
case  the  consequences  of  which  will  be  so  far 
reaching  as  the  present  one;  not  even  the  venera 
ble  member  of  the  Court  (Mr.  Justice  Field) 
who  survives  from  the  early  days  of  the  Civil 
War,  and  has  sat  upon  every  question  of  recon 
struction,  of  National  destiny,  of  State  destiny, 
that  has  come  up  in  this  Court  during  the  last 
thirty  years.  No  member  of  the  Court  will  live 
long  enough  to  hear  a  case  involving  a  question 
more  vital  than  this,  which  affects  so  seriously 
the  people  of  these  United  States,  who  rely  upon 
the  guarantees  of  the  Constitution  which  our 
fathers  made,  and  under  which  our  people  have 
lived  until  this  time. 

"If  it  is  true,  as  my  learned  friend  [Mr.  Carter] 
said  in  closing,  that  the  passions  of  the  people  are 
aroused  on  this  subject;  if  it  is  true  that  a  mighty 
army  of  70,000,000  citizens  is  likely  to  march  this 
way  to  see  about  the  decision  in  the  pending  case, 
it  is  all  the  more  vital  and  important  to  the  future 
welfare  of  this  country  that  the  Court  should  now 
determine,  in  the  first  place,  whether  it  has  the 
power,  and  then,  if  it  has  the  power,  to  proceed  to 


THE  LAWYER  231 

exercise  it,  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to  such  legislation 
as  that  in  controversy  here." 

The  Court  soon  announced  its  decision,  sweeping 
away  the  entire  Act  by  holding,  in  addition  to  the 
points  previously  decided,  that  taxes  on  per 
sonal  property,  or  its  income,  are  direct  taxes,  and 
that  the  tax  on  the  income  of  real  estate  and  of  per 
sonal  property  being  a  direct  tax  and,  therefore, 
unconstitutional,  because  not  apportioned  according 
to  representation,  the  entire  scheme  of  taxation  was 
necessarily  illegal. 

The  fee  which  Mr.  Choate  received  for  this  im 
portant  service  has  been  the  subject  of  a  good  deal 
of  speculation  and  guesswork.  I  was  desirous,  of 
course,  of  obtaining  first-hand  information  in  re 
gard  to  it,  but  at  a  loss  how  to  do  so  without  ap 
pearing  to  be  too  inquisitive  as  to  purely  private 
concerns.  For  a  long  time  I  forbore  to  allude  to 
the  subject,  but,  as  it  was  necessary  to  have  an  in 
terview  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  in 
formation  as  to  his  age  when  some  of  his  photo 
graphs  in  my  possession  were  taken,  I  concluded  to 
use  all  the  tact  at  my  command  to  learn  the  amount 
of  his  fee.  I  was  fortunate  in  finding  him  in  one  of 
his  most  genial  moods  and,  after  a  general  conver 
sation,  in  which  he  told  me  about  the  Fitz-John 
Porter  case,  we  took  up  the  photographs.  Coming 
to  one  of  them  he  remarked,  "Why,  this  was  taken 
at  the  time  I  argued  the  Income  Tax  case."  I  ex 
pressed  my  satisfaction,  as  I  knew  the  public  would 


232  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

want  to  know  just  how  he  looked  at  that  time.  With 
out  my  alluding  to  the  fee,  he  went  on,  of  his  own  ac 
cord,  to  say  that  it  was  remarkable  how  much  had 
been  said  about  his  fee  in  that  case.  "  A  good  many 
people,"  said  he,  "have  stated  that  my  fee  was  as 
high  as  $250,000,  but  nothing  could  be  further  from 
the  truth,  although  that  amount  would  not  have  been 
excessive.  The  parties  directly  interested  in  the 
case,  who  could  be  called  on  for  a  certain  amount, 
were  a  few  insurance  companies,  with  the  expecta 
tion,  however,  that  a  number  of  banks,  and  other 
financial  interests,  would  contribute  to  some  extent, 
but  not  one  of  them  did  so,  and  all  that  I  received 
for  my  services  for  preparing  the  case  and  making 
the  two  arguments  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  was  $34,000."  The  case  involved 
millions,  and  the  fee  was,  I  think,  very  inadequate. 
The  list  of  important  cases  in  which  he  was  en 
gaged  is  long,  embracing  a  large  variety  of  legal 
controversies,  raising  difficult  questions,  requiring 
for  their  solution  careful  investigation,  and  legal 
acumen  of  the  highest  order.  Among  them  may  be 
mentioned,  in  addition  to  those  already  referred  to, 
the  important  will  cases  of  Vanderbilt,  Tilden, 
Stewart,  Hoyt,  Cruger,  Drake  and  Hopkins,  and  the 
suits  of  Hutchinson  against  the  New  York  Stock 
Exchange,  and  of  Loubat  against  the  Union  Club. 
In  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  were 
those  of  Gebhard  against  the  Canada  Southern  Rail 
way  ;  the  Kansas  Prohibition  case ;  the  Chinese  Ex 
clusion  case ;  the  California  Irrigation  case ;  the  Bell 


THE  LAWYER  233 

Telephone  case;  the  Texas  Trust  case;  the  New 
York  Indians  case;  the  Berdan  Arms  case,  and 
the  Southern  Pacific  Land  Grant  case,  which  in 
volved  the  title  to  large  portions  of  western  terri 
tory. 

On  his  return  from  England,  at  the  end  of  his  am 
bassadorship,  he  delivered  an  interesting  informal 
address  at  a  meeting  of  the  Bar  Association,  at 
which,  in  expressing  his  pleasure  in  again  finding 
himself  among  his  brethren  of  the  Bar,  he  ventured 
to  express  the  hope  that  there  was  still  a  place  for 
him  among  them.  This  hope  was  fully  realized; 
there  was  a  large  place  for  him,  as  is  manifest  from 
the  important  cases  in  which  he  was  retained,  among 
them  that  of  the  American  Sugar  Refining  Company 
charged  with  accepting  rebates  from  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad  Company,  and  that  against  the 
Interborough  Street  Railway  Company,  in  the  lat 
ter  securing  a  payment  to  his  clients  of  $6,000,000, 
and  receiving  a  fee  of  $150,000. 

In  the  retrospect,  Mr.  Choate's  career  at  the  Bar 
was  attended  by  favorable  circumstances.  His  sin 
gular  good  fortune  in  coming  into  association  with 
Mr.  Evarts  and  Mr.  Southmayd  opened  up  the  way 
for  his  remarkable  achievements.  He  found  in  them 
precisely  what  he  needed  as  a  complement  to  his  own 
natural  gifts.  They  were  both  extremely  able  and 
well-equipped  lawyers,  and  in  the  great  variety  of 
cases  they  conducted  he  had,  by  contact  with  them, 
without  poring  over  books,  a  form  of  viva  voce  in 
struction  calculated  to  impart  a  broad  and  accurate 


234  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

knowledge  of  the  law.  Experience  with  them  was 
the  best  of  all  teachers.  This  he  fully  acknowledged 
in  what  he  had  to  say  of  them,  and  of  his  legal 
knowledge  gained  with  them  "in  fighting  in  the 
Courts. "  Moreover,  the  strong  bonds  of  sympathy 
which  existed  were  well  calculated  to  call  out  from 
them  their  rich  stores  of  legal  learning,  and  from 
him  perfect  confidence  in  their  opinion  and  judg 
ment,  and  enthusiastic  co-operation  with  them  in 
following  out  the  lines  of  procedure  they  marked 
out.  He  was  also  spared  the  necessity  of  depend 
ing  upon  the  development  of  a  slowly  growing 
practice,  consequent  on  individual  effort.  He  was 
introduced,  at  once,  into  a  large  practice,  which  re 
moved,  entirely,  all  question  of  where  business  was 
to  come  from,  and  the  days  of  weary  waiting  inci 
dent  to  lawyers  who  build  up  a  practice  of  their 
own.  He  had  his  work  cut  out  for  him,  and  it  was 
for  him  to  show  his  efficiency.  The  kind  of  work 
he  was  called  upon  to  do  was  exactly  the  kind  he 
liked  the  best,  and  for  which  he  was  best  fitted.  It 
was  that  which  he  describes  as  having  occupied  him 
during  the  first  ten  years  of  his  practice,  in  acting 
as  junior  to  Mr.  Evarts  in  the  trial  of  cases  in  the 
Courts. 

He  was  fortunate,  also,  in  the  period  during 
which  he  was  in  active  practice.  The  half -century 
upon  which  he  entered,  when  he  took  his  place  at 
the  New  York  Bar,  was  to  be  eventful,  not  merely 
for  himself,  but  for  his  chosen  city  and  profession. 
The  city  was  to  develop  in  size  and  importance  in 


THE  LAWYER  235 

all  that  pertains  to  finance  and  commerce,  beyond 
all  human  expectation,  opening  new  and  unexpected 
paths  of  professional  activity;  the  profession,  having 
recently  emerged  from  its  double-headed  system  of 
common  law  and  chancery  to  practice  under  the 
code,  was  to  witness  the  development  of  a  large  va 
riety  of  questions  to  be  considered  and  decided,  and 
the  introduction  of  modern  methods  and  facilities 
for  dispatching  business  unheard  of,  and,  indeed, 
not  dreamed  of,  when  he  took  his  place  at  the  Bar. 
The  telegraph  and  railway  were  of  recent  introduc 
tion,  and  the  ocean  steamer  was  a  comparative  nov 
elty,  the  former  stretching  out  into  a  network  of 
iron  over  the  land,  and  the  latter  making  its  path 
way  through  the  sea.  These,  and  their  attendant  in 
terests, — transportation  by  express  and  freight — 
gave  rise  to  novel  questions  growing  out  of  their 
duty  as  carriers  of  passengers  and  property,  and, 
as  well,  out  of  corporate  management,  with  its  con 
sequent  insolvencies,  receiverships,  and  reorganiza 
tions.  In  other  lines  of  human  enterprise  and  in 
dustry  the  development  was  no  less  marked — such, 
for  instance  as  fire,  life  and  accident  insurance — all 
of  them  presenting  important  legal  questions  to  be 
settled  by  the  Courts. 

His  profession,  too,  was  completely  transformed 
through  the  introduction  of  the  typewriting  machine 
and  telephone,  and  the  introduction  of  women  em 
ployees  as  stenographers  and  typewriters. 

His  many  cases,  to  a  few  of  which  I  have  referred, 
bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  in  the  enlarged  domain 


236  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

of  legal  discussion  which  the  multiform  develop 
ments  of  our  national  life  occasioned,  he  was  in  the 
forefront.  He  was  fortunate  in  his  opportunities, 
but  unusual  ability  and  unwearied  zeal  and  perse 
verance  were  essential  to  show  he  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.  If  we  are  to  judge  lawyers  by  the  re 
sults  they  produce,  he  is  entitled  to  a  high  place 
among  lawyers,  for,  if  there  ever  was  a  winner  of 
cases,  he  was  one.  And  what  is  more  to  his  praise 
is  his  consistent  and  uniform  observance  of  such 
a  high  standard  of  professional  conduct  and  pro 
fessional  ethics  that  in  all  his  long  life  his  reputa 
tion  as  a  lawyer  was  not  clouded  by  a  breath  of  sus 
picion,  while  his  professional  achievements  entitle 
him  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
ornaments  of  the  American  Bar. 


IV 
THE  AMBASSADOR 


IV 

THE  AMBASSADOR 

IT  was  not  until  Mr.  Choate  was  inclined  to  with 
draw  from  the  strenuous  activity  of  a  lawyer  that 
he  accepted  office,  when  President  McKinley,  on 
January  11, 1899,  appointed  him  Ambassador  at  the 
Court  of  St.  James.  This  was  a  popular  and  well- 
deserved  recognition  of  his  eminence  and  usefulness 
as  a  citizen,  his  distinguished  attainments  as  a 
lawyer  and  his  unquestionable  social  fitness  for  the 
position. 

Notwithstanding  that  his  appointment  was  re 
ceived  with  enthusiastic  acclaim  throughout  the  na 
tion,  it  created  an  uproar  among  the  Irish.  His  St. 
Patrick  day  speech  had  aroused  fierce  animosity,  and 
one  of  the  leading  Irish- American  journals  said: 
"In  appointing  Joseph  Choate  to  be  Ambassador 
to  England  Mr.  McKinley  has  virtually  spat  into  the 
face  of  every  man  and  woman  of  Irish  birth  or 
blood  in  the  United  States,  and  he  has  done  so  de 
liberately,  knowing  well  that  Mr.  Choate  is  the 
incarnation  of  hate  to  the  Irish  race,  and  that  the 
selection  of  such  a  man  would  be  a  cruel  insult  to 
a  large  and  powerful  element  in  the  Republican 
party  that  has  made  him  President." 

The  Irish  World  greeted  his  appointment  with 


240  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

an  editorial  entitled  "A  Compliment  to  England, " 
in  which  he  was  described  as  a  virulent  enemy  of 
the  Irish  race ;  as  hating  the  Irish  as  the  devil  hates 
holy  water;  his  malevolence  not  confined  to  any 
class  or  section  of  Irish,  abhorring  them  all,  and 
whenever  occasion  offered  to  spit  his  venom  at  the 
Irish  he  has  done  it,  and  when  no  occasion  offered 
he  made  it. 

Nevertheless,  in  after  years,  when  the  sting  of 
the  St.  Patrick  day  speech  had  lost  its  smart,  I 
believe  the  Irishmen  in  America  were  proud  of  him. 

Thus,  at  sixty-five  years  of  age,  he  was  transferred 
from  the  ranks  of  the  busy  lawyer  to  the  untried 
field  of  diplomacy.  To  his  remarkable  adaptability 
there  was  added  a  training  in  professional  and 
social  responsibilities,  which  he  unconsciously  un 
derwent  for  many  years,  qualifying  him  to  fill, 
with  distinguished  success,  the  highest  diplomatic 
post  in  the  gift  of  the  President. 

Although  legal  qualifications  are  little  calculated 
to  rank  as  merits  in  the  eyes  of  foreigners,  and 
frequently  obscure  and  conceal  the  finest  qualities 
of  character,  Englishmen  admired  his  brilliancy, 
unfailing  humor  and  personal  charm;  and  nowhere 
were  his  bonhomie,  ready  wit,  cultivated  intellect, 
social  attractiveness  and  graceful  oratory  displayed 
to  greater  advantage.  They  won  for  him  unbounded 
popularity,  unexcelled,  if  equaled,  by  any  of  our 
representatives  at  that  Court.  He  tells  us  his  one 
instruction  from  President  McKinley,  on  receiving 
his  letter  of  credence,  was  to  promote  the  welfare 


THE  AMBASSADOR  241 

of  both  countries  by  cultivating  friendly  relations. 

Before  his  departure  for  England  he  was  honored 
with  a  reception  at  the  Bar  Association.  When  the 
long  file  of  well-wishers  was  nearly  ended,  he  turned 
to  the  President  of  the  Association  and  remarked, 
as  an  aside,  but  heard  by  all  in  the  immediate 
vicinity:  "This  is  a  great  occasion;  but  I  did  not 
know  there  was  such  a  lot  of  people  who  are  glad 
to  see  me  off." 

For  a  few  days  before  his  departure,  he  said  he 
was  confined  to  his  house  with  that  particularly  Eng 
lish  malady,  the  gout.  He  desired  a  swinging  sling 
in  his  study  in  which  to  rest  his  gout-ridden  foot. 
He,  therefore,  appropriated  several  yards  of 
bandage  linen,  in  strips  about  a  half-a-foot  wide, 
and  selected  two  high  back  chairs  to  which  he 
attached  the  strips  of  bandage,  and  carefully  put 
his  sick  foot  in  the  improvised  swing.  "Ah!  that 
beats  a  footstool,"  he  said,  as  he  leaned  back  in 
his  armchair.  But  the  chairs  were  light  and  the 
foot  was  heavy.  The  tops  of  the  chairs  came 
together  with  a  crash.  The  swollen  foot  struck 
the  floor  and  he  screamed  with  pain.  The 
members  of  his  family,  including  the  servants, 
rushed  in  alarm  to  his  rescue,  thinking  something 
terrible  had  happened.  The  startled  butler  was 
about  to  run  for  the  police  or  the  firemen — he  was 
not  quite  clear  which — but  was  restrained  by  a 
chambermaid,  who  hysterically  threw  her  arms 
about  his  neck,  and  demanded  his  protection  in  the 
hour  of  danger.  Mr.  Choate  was  picked  up  care- 


242  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

fully  and  fixed  up  in  the  armchair  with  pillows. 
Then  he  ordered  everyone  from  the  apartment.  "I 
know,"  said  he,  "that  a  swinging  sling  is  a  good 
thing;  it  only  needs  development;  let  me  think," 
he  mused.  After  a  little  he  called  a  servant,  and 
had  him  rig  up  the  chairs  and  sling  once  more. 
"Now,"  said  Mr.  Choate,  "put  those  volumes  of 
Blackstone,  Bishop  on  Marriage  and  Divorce,  and 
Story  on  Contracts  on  the  seat  of  the  right  hand 
chair.  No,  not  that  way,  put  Blackstone  at  the 
bottom.  We  must  be  consistent  even  in  little  things, 
and  Blackstone  makes  a  good  legal  foundation. 
Next  put  Contracts.  That's  it.  Now,  Marriage  and 
Divorce  at  the  top  of  the  heap — triumphant — despite 
Blackstone  and  Story.  On  the  other  chair  put  that 
book  of  Blank's  Life  and  Jokes." 

"Anything  else?" 

"No,  Blank's  jokes  are  heavy  enough  to  counter 
balance  all  the  weighty  tomes  ever  written." 

Thus  weighted,  the  chairs  held  firm,  and  Mr. 
Choate  was  able  to  rest  his  foot  with  some  degree 
of  comfort,  while  he  improved  his  enforced  idleness 
in  thinking  up  appropriate  material  for  English 
consumption. 

He  no  sooner  presented  his  credentials  than 
a  bombardment  began.  Chambers  of  Commerce 
swooped  down  upon  him,  and  bore  him  off  in 
triumph,  as  their  guest.  The  Omar  Khayyam  Club 
aimed  an  invitation  at  him  and  demanded  uncondi 
tional  surrender.  The  Dante  Society,  under  the 
lead  of  Mrs.  Craigie  ("John  Oliver  Hobbes"), 


THE  AMBASSADOR  243 

authoress  of  that  successful  play  The  Ambassador, 
insisted  on  escorting  him  through  the  infernal 
regions,  and  he,  in  turn,  gracefully  acknowledged 
that  he  had  learned  more  of  his  diplomatic  duties 
from  her  play  than  from  any  other  single  source. 
The  Wordsworth  Society,  and  Browning  Society 
pressed  their  claims.  The  Birmingham  and  Mid 
land  Institute  elected  him  its  annual  President  and 
exacted,  by  way  of  tribute,  an  address  on  Benjamin 
Franklin.  The  Philosophical  Institution  bestowed 
the  same  honor  and  claimed,  as  a  reward,  his  fine 
address  on  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  public  schools, 
playing  upon  his  interest  in  education,  lured  him 
into  distributing  their  prizes,  and  political  leagues 
expected  him  to  tell  them  about  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court.  The  historic  city  Guilds  fastened 
upon  him,  and  he  was  a  standing  feature  at  their 
banquets.  Charitable  and  philanthropic  societies 
pursued  him.  Workmen's  Institutes  claimed  him 
on  account  of  his  democratic  sympathies.  Libraries 
refused  to  be  opened  except  by  him.  He  was  the 
obvious  man  to  unveil  a  bust  or  a  portrait.  Sport 
ing  and  Fox  Hunting  Clubs  could  not  get  along 
without  him.  His  presence  was  expected  at  dinners 
in  honor  of  famous  individuals,  and  his  nation's 
birthday  and  day  of  Thanksgiving  expected  him 
to  add  something  fresh  and  new  on  threadbare 
subjects.  He  was  turned  into  a  sort  of  ambassa 
dorial  lecturer  to  the  English  Nation  who  demanded 
from  him,  at  every  turn,  eloquence  and  yet  more 
eloquence ;  versatility,  and  yet  more  versatility.  He 


244  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

was  launched  on  an  oratorical  tour  from  Land's 
End  to  John  O 'Groat's, 

As  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  England  said  at  the 
banquet  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  on  April  15,  1905,  in 
speaking  of  the  responsibility  and  difficulty  of  the 
Ambassador's  task:  "It  is  no  light  task;  it  is  no 
easy  task.  In  the  first  place,  he  has  to  assume  the 
protection  of  all  his  countrymen.  He  has  to  assume 
that  all  his  countrymen  are  absolutely  right — and, 
may  I  say,  sometimes  they  are  not — [laughter],  and 
when  he  has  to  conduct  a  political  negotiation  I 
think  the  late  Lord  Salisbury  compared  it  to  the 
manner  in  which  a  person  would  play  whist,  with 
everybody  behind  him  talking  and  considering  what 
should  be  the  next  card  to  play."  [Laughter.] 

Up  to  the  very  last  no  one  approached  him  in 
versatility,  in  effectiveness,  in  the  dignity  that 
humor  always  saves  from  being  pompous.  He  had 
the  highest  reputation  as  an  after-dinner  speaker. 
He  was  also  a  great  citizen.  For  a  man  of  sixty- 
five  to  transplant  himself  to  a  new  social  atmos 
phere  and  start  out  on  a  new  career  is  a  hazardous 
experiment.  It  made  his  task  not  easier,  but  harder, 
because  success  was  to  be  achieved  in  purely  social 
ways,  and  the  social  ways  of  England  and  America 
are  so  dissimilar  that  every  dissimilarity  is  noticed 
and  commented  upon  at  once. 

When  he  was  appointed,  the  American  Am 
bassador  who  made  his  mark  was  not  so  much 
the  diplomatic  representative  of  the  United  States 
as  the  national  guest  of  England,  and  he  best  ac- 


THE  AMBASSADOR  245 

complished  his  mission  who  lent  himself  freely  to 
the  infinitely  varied  demands  of  English  hospitality 
by  becoming  Ambassador  to  Englishmen  as  well  as 
to  England;  not  that  Mr.  Choate  had  not  his 
diplomatic  successes,  but  the  outstanding  merit  of 
his  Ambassadorship  was  its  supreme  range  of 
sociability.  He  learned  to  know  all  classes  and 
almost  all  corners  of  England.  He  spent  his  time, 
ungrudgingly,  in  forwarding  public  and  philan 
thropic  movements,  and  in  the  task  which  he  ranked 
the  first  of  his  official  duties,  of  doing  all  he  could 
to  interpret  America  to  England.  There  was  no 
occasion  of  the  slightest  Anglo-American  interest 
that  could  not  enlist  his  presence  and  voice,  and  the 
genial  freshness  and  aptness  of  his  speeches  made 
them  always  the  prominent  feature.  He  was  never 
heard  to  make  a  speech  without  saying  something 
enlightening.  His  voice  of  rare  clarity  and  carry 
ing  power,  gestures  that  were  almost  a  species 
of  eloquence  in  themselves,  and  a  wide  range  of 
reading  and  observation,  assimilating  everything 
he  either  read  or  observed,  aroused  the  admiration 
of  the  English  people,  and  stamped  his  term  of 
service  with  certain  characteristics  which  may  be 
said  to  constitute  the  Choate  touch,  and  which  no 
one  is  likely  to  reproduce. 

His  six  years  of  Ambassadorship  were  fortu 
nately  years  of  freedom  from  international  compli 
cations,  and  he  attributes  the  "conduct  of  our 
relations,  no  longer  foreign  relations,"  which 
existed  between  the  two  countries,  to  his  agreeable 


246  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

intercourse  with  the  distinguished  occupant  of  the 
Foreign  Office,  Lord  Lansdowne. 

As  Ambassador  he  rendered  efficient  service,  in  a 
line  with  his  instructions  from  President  McKinley. 
His  attractive  personal  qualities  made  him  a  wel 
come  guest  in  all  circles  of  society,  and  particularly 
among  his  professional  brethren  of  the  English  Bar. 

It  has  become  a  tradition  in  England  that  the 
American  Ambassador  may  not  be  an  accomplished 
diplomat  but  he  must  be  an  accomplished  speaker. 
After-dinner  oratory  is  especially  prized  in  Eng 
land,  because  distinction  in  that  line  is  difficult  of 
attainment  to  the  children  of  her  soil.  In  post 
prandial  oratory  he  was  pre-eminent,  and  his 
addresses  at  public  functions  were  valuable  con 
tributions  toward  familiarizing  our  kin  beyond  the 
sea  with  historic  Americans,  and  with  our  literature 
and  institutions.  His  addresses  on  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Alexander  Hamilton, 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  John  Harvard;  also 
on  the  English  Bible,  Education  in  America  and 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  furnish 
excellent  examples  of  broad  culture,  high  attain 
ments,  remarkable  natural  powers  and  all  that  is 
most  attractive  in  public  life. 

The  quality  of  his  humor  was  such  as  to  appeal 
very  strongly  to  a  British  audience.  It  cannot  be 
true,  as  has  been  said,  that  "it  takes  a  surgical 
operation  to  get  a  joke  into  a  Scotchman's  head," 
for  Mr.  Choate's  wit  was  sufficiently  penetrating, 
without  accessories,  to  evoke  from  an  audience  of 


THE  AMBASSADOR  247 

Scotchmen  shouts  of  laughter.  An  illustration  of 
this  is  his  address  before  the  Edinburgh  Sir  Walter 
Scott  Club,  November  11,  1899.  In  the  course  of 
it  he  said : 

"Now  it  must  be  said  that  Americans  and 
Scotchmen,  in  particular,  have  a  great  deal  in 
common.  Even  in  those  lighter  personal  char 
acteristics,  which  sometime  amuse  our  common 
critics,  they  are  very  much  alike.  [Laughter.] 
Our  natural  habit,  for  I  confess  it  is  a  fixed  habit, 
of  making  ourselves  at  home  wherever  we  go 
[laughter],  must  have  been  inherited  from  some 
remote  Scottish  progenitor  [laughter],  for,  I  assure 
you,  that  your  people  come  over  and  settle  down 
upon  us  and  make  the  very  fat  of  our  land  their 
own.  [Loud  laughter.]  They  celebrate  the  birth 
day  of  your  patron  saint  with  far  more  gusto  than 
you  have  ever  done  at  home,  no  doubt  about  that, 
and  on  the  30th  of  November  they  convert  our  great 
land  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  into  another 
land  of  cakes. ' '  [Great  laughter.] 

During  his  sojourn  in  England  he  was  particu 
larly  persona  grata  with  Her  Majesty  the  Queen. 
His  manner  toward  her  differed  widely  from  the 
prevalent  awe  of  royalty,  which  characterized  her 
subjects,  even  of  the  highest  rank,  and  was  much 
the  same  as  that  toward  any  elderly  lady,  whose 
position  and  personal  character  called  for  deference 
and  respect,  and  his  interesting  conversation  not 


248  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

only  highly  entertained  her,  but  his  witty  observa 
tions  were  sufficiently  amusing  to  evoke  a  royal 
smile,  and  disturb  royal  dignity. 

His  first  public  appearance  and  speech  in  London 
was  at  a  dinner  of  the  Association  of  the  Chambers 
of  Commerce,  in  which  he  alluded  to  President 
Cleveland's  Venezuela  message  as  follows: 

"You  know  that  on  our  side  of  the  water  we 
love,  occasionally,  to  twist  the  Lion's  tail  for  the 
mere  sport  of  hearing  him  roar.  Well,  that  time 
he  disappointed  us,  he  would  not  roar  at  all,  but 
sat  silent  as  a  sphinx,  and  by  mutual  forbearance 
— our  sober  second  thought  aiding  your  sober  first 
thought — we  averted  everything  but  a  mere  war  of 
words." 

His  allusion  to  the  British  Lion,  and  the  possi 
bility  of  "twisting  his  tail,"  was  not  in  accord  with 
the  English  point  of  view  respecting  the  dignity 
belonging  to  that  noble  beast.  Speaking  meta 
phorically,  this  utterance  was  a  twist  of  the  Lion's 
tail  in  his  native  lair,  and  evoked,  unexpectedly,  a 
good-sized  roar  of  disapproval  from  the  British 
press  because  it  evidently  did  not  appeal  to  the 
British  sense  of  humor.  It  was  not  a  bad  break, 
however,  not  bad  enough  to  have  any  permanent 
effect  and,  later  on,  under  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Choate's  tickling,  the  British  Lion  roared  "as 
gently  as  a  sucking  dove." 

A  story  went  the  rounds  of  an  incident  said  to 
have  occurred  at  a  Ducal  house,  where  a  nobleman 
of  high  rank,  seeing  Mr.  Choate  at  the  door,  and 


"THE  OPEN  DOOR" 

The    Quocn  :     "Conic    in,    Joseph.      Charmed    to    see    you' 


THE  AMBASSADOB  249 

mistaking  him  for  the  butler,  said:  "Call  me  a 
cab."  To  which  Mr.  Choate  responded:  "You  are 
a  cab."  The  nobleman  naturally  took  offense,  and 
complained  to  his  host,  but  was  placidly  informed 
it  was  his  error  in  mistaking  the  American  Am 
bassador  for  a  butler.  Full  of  apologies  to  Mr. 
Choate  he  expressed  regret  that  he  did  not  know 
he  was  the  American  Ambassador.  "Oh,"  Mr. 
Choate  replied,  "pray  don't  apologize;  if  I  had 
known  whom  you  were  I  would  have  called  you  a 
hansom  cab."  Mr.  Choate,  I  believe,  disclaims  and 
repudiates  this  incident  as  a  part  of  his  English 
experiences,  but  the  story  has  been  so  often  applied 
to  him  that  it  is  generally  accepted  as  a  Choate 
anecdote. 

During  his  sojourn  in  England  Mr.  Choate 's  well- 
proportioned  figure  underwent  quite  a  transforma 
tion.  He  who  had  been  rather  slight  returned  with 
a  corpulence  quite  astonishing.  Someone  observing 
this  remarked:  "Why,  Mr.  Choate,  you  have  been 
getting  stout  since  you  went  abroad."  "Oh,  yes," 
replied  he,  "it  was  necessary  to  meet  the  English 
men  halfway. ' ' 

A  witticism  of  the  same  character  occurred  in  a 
case  in  which  I  was  concerned.  One  of  the  lawyers, 
exceedingly  corpulent,  was  making  an  argument. 
Mr.  Choate  leaned  over  where  I  was  sitting  and 
remarked:  "Strong,  look  at  Blank,  he  carries  all 
before  him." 

The  cockneyism  of  London  must  have  afforded 
him  opportunity  for  making  a  great  deal  of  fun. 


250  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

The  dropping  of  the  h's  called  forth  a  delicious 
mot.  Observing  on  the  street  a  box  marked  "drop- 
letter  box"  he  said,  "Well,  that  box  must  be  full 
of  h's." 

His  social  and  diplomatic  success  as  Ambassador 
secured  him  the  honor  of  a  farewell  banquet  by  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  London  on  May  5,  1905,  and  his 
"farewell"  spoken  on  that  occasion  reveals,  to  some 
extent,  the  character  of  the  tributes  to  his  worth. 

It  is  no  wonder  he  was  well  received  by  the 
English  Bar,  for  his  fame  as  a  lawyer  had  preceded 
him.  There  is  probably  no  body  of  men  more  con 
servative,  less  likely  to  be  carried  away  by  impulse, 
more  critical,  if  not  suspicious,  of  American  law 
yers,  than  our  brethren  of  the  English  Bar.  But 
when  they  came  to  see  and  know  Mr.  Choate  they 
received  him,  without  reserve,  into  the  inner  circle 
of  their  intimacy,  and  among  them  he  found  his 
warmest  and  most  agreeable  friends.  I  heard  him 
deliver  an  address  before  the  Association  of  the  Bar 
of  New  York  upon  his  relations  with  the  English 
Bar,  and  in  the  course  of  it  he  remarked  that  the 
most  delightful  nights  he  had  spent  in  England  were 
those  passed  among  the  Benchers  of  the  Middle 
Temple.  No  better  evidence  than  this  is  needed  of 
the  place  he  won  in  their  affectionate  respect  and 
regard,  and  it  was,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
that,  at  the  close  of  his  service  as  Ambassador,  he 
should  receive  the  best  it  was  in  the  power  of  the 
Benchers  to  bestow,  for  they  elected  him  a  Bencher 
of  the  Middle  Temple,  and  so  enrolled  him  among 


THE  AMBASSADOR  251 

the  worthies  of  the  English  Bar.  It  is  only  neces 
sary  to  read  his  address  at  the  dinner  given  him 
by  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  England,  on  April  14, 
1905,  to  realize  how  agreeable  and  intimate  his 
relations  were  with  the  English  Bar,  and  what  they 
bestowed  on  him  of  rich  and  generous  appreciation. 

The  honor  of  election  as  a  Bencher  was  extraor 
dinary  and  exceptional;  a  mark  of  respect  never 
before  conferred  on  anyone  not  an  Englishman 
since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  the 
long  line  of  lawyers  who  have  represented  this 
country  at  the  Court  of  St.  James  for  over  a 
hundred  years,  he  was  singled  out  for  this  dis 
tinction.  This,  as  the  Lord  Chancellor  said,  at  the 
dinner  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  was 
because  he  had  won  for  himself  a  position  of  his 
own  as  the  very  ideal  of  an  Ambassador — as  the 
interpreter  and  intermediary  of  the  highest  interests 
of  the  two  nations — and  that  the  Bench  and  Bar 
were  proud  of  him  and  honored  him  as  one  of  their 
own  profession,  who  had  proved  himself  to  be  one 
of  the  most  successful  of  diplomats. 

At  the  Mansion  House  dinner  just  before  his 
departure  he  alluded  to  his  retirement  as  follows: 

"I  have  been  asked  a  thousand  times  in  the  last 
three  months,  'Why  do  you  go  [laughter  and 
cheers],  are  you  not  sorry  to  leave  England;  are 
you  really  glad  to  go  home?'  Well,  now  in  truth, 
my  mind  and  heart  are  torn  asunder  by  conflicting 
emotions.  In  the  first  place,  on  the  one  hand,  I 


252  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

will  tell  you  a  great  secret.  I  am  really  suffering 
from  homesickness;  not  that  I  love  England  less, 
but  that  I  love  America  more,  and  what  English 
man  will  quarrel  with  me  for  that?  [Cheers.] 
There  is  no  place  like  home,  be  it  ever  so  homely 
[laughter],  or  as  the  old  Welsh  adage  has  it,  'East 
and  West,  home  is  best.'  My  friends  on  this  side  of 
the  water  are  multiplying  every  day  in  number,  and 
increasing  in  the  ardor  of  their  affections.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  the  great  number  of  my  friends 
on  the  other  side  are  as  rapidly  diminishing  and 
dwindling  away:  'part  of  them  have  crossed  the 
flood  and  part  are  crossing  now,'  and  I  have  a  great 
yearning  to  be  with  the  waning  number.  And  then, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it,  in 
this  family  party,  I  am  running  a  great  risk  if  I 
stay  here  much  longer  of  contracting  a  much  more 
serious  disease  than  homesickness — Anglomania 
[laughter],  which  many  of  my  countrymen  regard 
as  more  dangerous  and  fatal  than  cerebro  spinal 
meningitis."  [Laughter.] 

There  were  few  important  matters  of  diplomacy 

which  arose  during  his  incumbency  as  Ambassador 

—in  fact  only  four.    These  were  the  Hay-Pauncef ote 

Treaty,  the  Alaska  Boundary,  the  "Open  Door"  in 

China,  and  the  controversy  concerning  Samoa. 

The  Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  which  originated  in 
changed  conditions  growing  out  of  the  construction 
of  the  Panama  Canal,  was  the  subject  of  extended 
diplomatic  negotiations.  These  involved  the  abro- 


THE  AMBASSADOR  253 

gation  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  in  order  to 
make  it  possible  for  our  Government  to  build  and 
operate  the  canal,  without  in  any  way  violating  our 
international  obligations  to  England.  When  he  took 
the  matter  up,  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  in 
formed  him  that  the  whole  matter  had  been  left 
with  Lord  Pauncefote,  and  that  the  negotiations 
should  be  with  him.  Accordingly,  negotiations  were 
conducted  between  Lord  Pauncefote  and  Mr.  Choate 
in  London,  and  were  reported  to  Mr.  Hay,  who  was 
then  Secretary  of  State.  Letters  from  Mr.  Choate 
on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  Thayer's  Life  of 
Hay.  These  negotiations  extended  over  a  year,  and 
the  successful  negotiation  of  the  treaty,  which  was 
subsequently  ratified,  is  acknowledged  to  have  been 
accomplished  by  the  skillful  diplomacy  of  Mr. 
Choate. 

The  determination  of  the  Alaska  Boundary  as 
sumed  importance  owing  to  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  the  Klondike.  The  rush  of  gold  seekers  and 
adventurers  made  the  determination  of  the  bound 
ary  imperative,  for  the  Canadians  made  claim  to 
the  inlets,  harbors  and  channels,  which  had  been 
undisputedly  American  since  1867,  when  purchased 
from  Russia.  A  Joint  High  Commission  was  unable 
to  reach  any  satisfactory  result,  and  adjourned 
without  settling  the  controversy.  It  was  not  until 
January,  1903,  that  negotiations  were  reopened,  and 
a  limited  Commission  appointed,  to  consist  of  three 
Americans  and  three  Englishmen.  It  was  taken  for 
granted  that  the  Americans  and  the  Canadians 


254  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

would  each  uphold  the  claims  of  their  respective 
Governments,  and  the  decision  really  depended 
upon  Lord  Alverstone,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
England,  the  chief  of  the  British  Commission.  It 
was  hoped  that  Mr.  Choate  would  undertake  to 
present  the  argument  of  the  American  case  to  the 
Commission.  Mr.  Hay,  Secretary  of  State,  desired 
this  because,  as  he  expressed  it,  "A  mere  legal 
argument  is  not  what  is  required  in  this  unprece 
dented  case.  A  sharp,  aggressive  lawyer  will  run 
a  great  risk  of  getting  Lord  Alverstone 's  'back  up.' 
Mr.  Choate  would  have  made  an  argument  faultless 
in  tone,  temper,  skill  and  knowledge  of  human 
nature. "  But  Mr.  Choate  believed  it  would  not  be 
proper  for  him  who,  as  American  Ambassador, 
had  negotiated  the  appointment  of  the  Commission 
with  the  British  Ministers,  to  appear  before  the 
Commission  as  a  lawyer  to  support  by  argument 
the  American  case.  He  felt  it  might  be  thought 
he  had  not  been  quite  candid,  and  that  it  would 
be  likely  to  affect  his  personal  and  official  relations 
with  the  British  Government.  In  this  he  was  un 
doubtedly  correct.  The  result  was,  however,  a 
victory  for  the  United  States,  whose  claim  was 
upheld  by  Lord  Alverstone  as  against  the  Canadian 
Commissioners,  who  dissented. 

A  great  diplomatic  question  arose  in  1900  due  to 
the  situation  in  China,  which  had  been  threatening 
ever  since  the  Germans  obtained  a  foothold  there 
in  1897.  The  Boxer  Uprising,  whose  purpose  was 
to  drive  foreigners  out  of  China,  was  of  serious 


THE  AMBASSADOR  255 

import.  It  led  the  American  Secretary  of  State  to 
issue  his  famous  note  to  foreign  Governments  on 
the  "Open  Door"  in  China.  In  it  he  outlined  a 
policy  which  would  affect  not  only  the  political  and 
commercial  status  of  China,  but  that  of  the  rest  of 
the  world  having  relations  with  that  Government. 
It  was  Mr.  Choate's  duty  to  undertake  negotiations 
with  Great  Britain  upon  this  subject.  Not  one  of 
the  European  Governments  wished  to  agree  to  it, 
because  each  had  secured  valuable  concessions  from 
China,  and  believed  it  more  profitable  to  hold  those 
already  obtained,  and  endeavor  to  secure  others. 
Mr.  Choate's  diplomatic  endeavors  were  to  prevent 
the  accomplishment  of  this,  and  induce  England, 
Germany  and  Russia  to  act  together.  This  result 
was  finally  accomplished  by  the  Powers  agreeing 
among  themselves  as  to  their  demands,  and  uniting 
in  presenting  them  to  the  Emperor  of  China,  who 
of  necessity  yielded,  and  the  "Open  Door"  in  China 
was  thus  guaranteed. 

The  last  of  these  matters  was  that  of  Samoa, 
which  involved  a  controversy  with  Germany.  At 
this  time  the  United  States  exercised,  with  Great 
Britain  and  Germany,  a  co-dominion  over  Samoa. 
Disputes  and  friction  had  arisen  between  the  Gov 
ernments,  which  finally  became  acute  and,  in  con 
sequence,  they  agreed  to  give  up  the  co-dominion. 
It  was,  therefore,  necessary  to  settle  the  terms  of 
separation,  and  the  disposition  of  the  Samoan 
Islands.  After  considerable  negotiation,  in  which 
Mr.  Choate  bore  an  important  part,  Germany 


256  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

retained  all  the  Islands,  except  one,  Tutuila,  the 
smallest  of  them,  but  the  most  important  and 
useful  to  the  United  States,  and  England  was  com 
pensated  by  concessions  elsewhere;  equal  rights  as 
to  trade  and  commerce  being  reserved  by  the  United 
States  and  England  in  Samoa.  The  result  of  these 
negotiations  was  regarded  as  very  advantageous  to 
the  United  States,  while  Germany  obtained  the  least 
valuable  portion  in  the  settlement. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  diplomatic  achievements 
we  must  look  for  the  explanation  of  Mr.  Choate's 
success  as  Ambassador,  but,  rather,  to  those  scintil 
lating  gems  of  oratory  at  all  sorts  of  functions, 
calling  for  ingenuity  and  tact,  as  well  as  versatility 
and  a  well-stored  mind,  and  it  is  there  we  shall 
find  it. 

His  fertile  and  productive  mind  may  be  likened 
to  a  garden  of  rich  soil  sown  with  variegated  flowers 
appealing,  in  their  efflorescence,  to  a  sense  of 
beauty  and  affording  delight  to  beholders.  From 
this  garden  he  permitted  our  kin  across  the  sea 
to  gather  bountiful  decorations  to  grace  their 
festive  occasions,  and  thus  won  their  regard. 

How  well  Mr.  Choate  obeyed  the  instructions  of 
President  McKinley  to  cultivate  amicable  relations 
between  the  two  countries,  ample  testimony  is 
afforded  by  his  many  informal  addresses,  on 
occasions  best  served  by  a  combination  of  graceful 
humor  and  serious  thought.  This  combination, 
rarely  found,  existed  in  his  case  in  perfection.  He 
seemed  to  possess  the  two  in  exactly  proper  pro- 


THE  AMBASSADOR  257 

portions,  while  added  to  them  was  a  remarkable 
appreciation  of  how  to  use  them  with  the  happiest 
effect  on  an  English  audience.  These  addresses, 
always  adapted  to  the  occasion,  appropriate  in 
treatment,  witty  in  expression,  with  a  substratum 
of  dignified  thought  and  informing  ideas,  char 
acterized  by  a  simplicity  that  constituted  their 
greatest  charm,  are,  in  themselves,  unique  speci 
mens  of  graceful  oratory.  But  an  important  con 
tribution  to  his  success,  as  best  disclosing  the  virile 
and  scholarly  quality  of  his  mentality,  were  his 
addresses  on  formal  occasions,  collected  in  his 
Lincoln  and  Other  Addresses,  which  afforded  a  sub 
stantial  background  to  his  more  intimate,  and 
seemingly  impromptu,  utterances. 

Nothing  could  have  been  better  suited  to  call 
forth  Mr.  Choate's  remarkable  versatility  than  the 
many  instances,  varying  widely  in  importance,  in 
character  and  in  subject,  most  of  them  local  and 
informal,  but  some,  indeed,  of  especial  significance, 
at  which  his  presence  and  talents  were  sought  tc 
grace  the  occasion.  Aside  from  those  entirely 
formal  and  of  national  interest — when  he  treated 
such  great  subjects  as  Lincoln,  Franklin,  Hamilton 
and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  or 
accepted  the  freedom  of  Edinburgh — there  were 
those  less  formal,  and  often  purely  local,  when  at 
the  opening  of  libraries  he  talked  about  books;  or 
at  school  anniversaries  dealt  with  education;  or 
at  literary  gatherings  discoursed  on  literature;  or 
at  meetings  of  sportsmen  spoke  on  sporting  themes 


258  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

dear  to  Englishmen;  or  with  the  actors  discussed 
the  drama;  or  among  merchants  enlarged  upon 
commerce;  or  at  workingmen's  institutes  gave  his 
views  on  industries;  and  at  the  celebrations  of 
Thanksgiving  and  Independence  Day  held  forth  on 
themes  typically  American.  From  the  large  quan 
tity  of  such  addresses  a  considerable  number  have 
been  selected,  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  character 
of  his  service  in  promoting  friendly  feeling  between 
England  and  America,  and  the  versatility  and  tact 
with  which  he  won  the  admiration  of  our  English 
cousins,  and  set  at  naught  that  evil  tendency  ex 
pressed  in  the  old  saying  "they  hate  each  other  like 
cousins. " 

I  have  alluded  to  his  first  speech  after  landing, 
at  the  dinner  of  the  "Association  of  the  Chambers 
of  Commerce,"  when  he  referred  to  "twisting  the 
Lion's  tail."  This  was  an  important  occasion  where 
were  present  some  of  the  chief  dignitaries  of  the 
realm,  including  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  and  eminent  representatives  from 
commercial  life  throughout  Great  Britain.  He 
spoke  as  follows: 

"In  the  first  place  let  me  protest  against  the 
unequal  manner  in  which  the  response  to  this  toast 
has  been  assigned.  That  I,  a  total  stranger  among 
you,  should  have  been  called  upon  to  respond  to  it 
in  priority  to  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England — 
at  whose  feet  I  have  sat,  at  a  great  distance  off 
[laughter],  and  whose  example  I  have  vainly  tried 


CULTIVATING  FRIENDLY  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS 


THE  AMBASSADOE  259 

to  follow — that  I  should  have  been  called  upon  to 
speak  before  him  overwhelms  me  with  embarrass 
ment.  Then  another  thing  I  would  have  you  under 
stand,  which  is  that  I  feel  that  when  the  British 
Lion  is  about  to  roar  even  the  American  Eagle 
should  hold  his  peace.  [Cheers  and  laughter.]  Now 
when  I  received,  before  I  left  America,  a  very  kind 
note  from  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  inviting  me  to 
attend  this  banquet  of  the  Associated  Chambers  of 
Commerce  of  England — realizing  as  I  did  that  this 
company  would  embody  the  whole  might  of  the  com 
merce  of  Great  Britain  [cheers] — I  felt  that  I  ought 
to  accept  it  in  the  same  cordial  spirit  in  which  it 
was  given.  [Cheers.]  To  be  sure  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  discuss  British  commerce.  My  general 
instructions  from  my  Government  are  not  to  speak 
about  political  questions,  and  only  on  extraordinary 
festal  occasions.  [Laughter.]  I  am  sure  that  your 
manifestations  bring  this  occasion  within  the  latter 
clause.  [Laughter.]  I  was  assured  by  your  Presi 
dent  that  this  association  in  all  its  doings  was 
absolutely  non-political.  I  have  read  one  or  two  of 
your  publications — not  all  through  [laughter],  I 
take  the  liberty  to  skip  figures,  statistics  and  most 
of  the  speeches  [laughter] ;  but  I  read  what  Lord 
Salisbury  said  to  you  two  years  ago,  that  the  first 
duty  of  the  Government  for  which  he  then  spoke — 
was  the  maintenance  of  British  interests  and  of 
British  obligations;  and  what  is  there  in  that  which 
commerce  does  not  embrace?  Truly  commerce  is 
the  mainstay  of  the  British  Empire,  and  I  was  glad 


260  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

to  hear  from  the  rear-admiral  that  the  sole  object 
of  maintaining  your  splendid  fleets  and  splendid 
armies  is  to  preserve  peace  for  the  encouragement 
of  commerce.  [Cheers.]  But  I  felt  that,  any  way, 
I  might  properly  and  with  all  modesty  avail  myself 
of  this  occasion — the  first  public  occasion  to  which 
I  was  invited  on  my  arrival — of  expressing  the 
appreciation  of  my  countrymen  of  the  forbearance, 
the  good-will  and  the  friendship  which  have  been 
manifested  to  them  so  freely  by  the  people  of  this 
country.  [Cheers.]  It  is  true  that  peace  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  is  the  first 
interest,  not  only  of  those  two  nations,  but  of  the 
rest  of  the  world  together.  [Cheers.]  Now  I  have 
to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  cordial  greeting 
which  I  have  received  since  my  landing  from  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  ["Hear!  Hear!"] 
Everywhere  I  have  been  treated  as  a  friend  and 
brother  and  a  representative  of  your  friends  and 
brothers.  [Cheers.]  I  find  that  England  never 
fails  to  practice  what  she  preaches;  and  this  open 
door  I  have  found  so  broadly  opened  in  such  a  way 
and  to  such  an  extent  as  would  satisfy,  I  have  no 
doubt,  the  yearnings  even  of  the  rear-admiral  who 
has  swung  the  circuit  of  the  globe  to  find  it.  [Cheers 
and  laughter.]  I  have  read  carefully  the  speeches 
which  he  made  in  the  various  hemispheres  which  he 
has  visited  [laughter],  and  I  find  that  he  is  a  good 
deal  troubled,  not  about  the  open  door,  but  about 
the  people  inside  and  behind  the  open  door.  He 
has  said  many  times  that  there  is  no  such  great 


THE  AMBASSADOR  261 

difficulty  in  getting  or  holding  the  door  open  as 
there  is  in  managing  the  people  inside  the  door,  who, 
as  he  has  often  said,  have  really  no  capacity  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  [Laughter.]  But  I  have 
found,  so  far  as  my  observation  and  experience  go 
— extending  over  only  two  weeks  [laughter] — that 
the  people  inside  or  behind  the  door  which  has  been 
thrown  open  to  him  are  not  only  capable  of  taking 
care  of  themselves,  but  of  nearly  all  the  rest  of 
mankind  together.  [Laughter.]  I  think  I  may  say 
as  testimony  and  as  witness  of  the  good  feeling 
which  is  sought  to  be  encouraged  on  our  side  of  the 
water  that  the  President  gave,  as  I  thought,  the 
best  illustration  of  it  when  he  said  in  my  letter  of 
credence  that  he  relied  with  confidence  upon  my 
constant  endeavor  during  my  stay  in  this  country 
to  promote  the  interests  and  prosperity  of  both 
nations.  [Cheers.]  And  then  I  want  to  take  issue 
with  Lord  Charles  Beresford  on  one  further  point, 
and  that  is  that  I  have  found  not  only  the  open  door, 
but  that  I  am  able  to  combine  with  it  a  new  and  en 
larged  sphere  of  influence  ["Hear,  hear/'  and  laugh 
ter] — a  sphere  of  influence  in  this  era  of  good  feeling 
peculiarly  open  to  the  American  people  and  its  rep 
resentatives,  for  in  this  cordial  and  overflowing 
demonstration  of  brotherhood  which  greets  me, 
what  is  there  that  either  of  us  could  ask  from  the 
other  that  we  should  ask  amiss?  [Loud  cheers.] 
I  beg  you  not  to  mistake  my  meaning  in  what  I 
have  said.  I  do  not  believe  that,  although  friends, 
we  shall  ever  cease  to  be  rivals  in  the  future  as 


262  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

we  have  been  in  the  past.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  We 
on  our  part,  and  you  on  yours,  will  still  press  every 
advantage  that  we  can  fairly  take,  but  it  shall  be  a 
generous  and  a  loyal  rivalry,  and  all  questions, 
disputes,  controversies  that  may  arise,  may  we  not 
all  say  so,  shall  be  settled  by  peaceful  means 
[cheers],  by  negotiation,  by  arbitration,  by  any 
possible,  and  every  possible,  means  except  that  of 
war.  [Loud  cheers.]  Now  I  want  to  say  one  word 
more  about  this  state  of  good  feeling  that  prevails 
among  us  and  of  which  we  are  all  so  proud.  It  is 
no  new  sentiment;  it  is  as  old  almost  as  is  the 
existence  of  the  Eepublic.  It  is  now  eighty-four 
years  since  the  last  armed  conflict  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  came  to  an  end, 
and  any  of  you  present  who  are  old  enough  to  re 
member  that  [laughter]  will  recall  that  that  con 
flict  of  three  years  ended  by  a  sort  of  petering-out 
process,  and  that  no  question  upon  which  either  side 
had  taken  up  arms  was  settled  by  means  of  war, 
showing  that  between  brothers  war  is  the  worst 
possible  means  of  settling  any  controversy. 
[Cheers.]  But  then,  during  these  eighty-four  years, 
what  tremendous  questions  we  have  had,  what 
heated  words,  what  threatening  demonstrations  on 
either  side,  and  yet,  while  those  questions  were  such 
as  would  inevitably  have  brought  any  other  two 
nations  into  open  and  frequent  conflict,  they  have 
all  been  arranged  and  adjusted  between  us  without 
even  a  resort  to  arms.  [Cheers.]  Look  at  some  of 
those  questions — the  Oregon  boundary,  the  north- 


THE  AMBASSADOR  263 

eastern  boundary,  the  Confederate  cruisers,  the 
Trent  seizure,  what  one  of  those  would  not  between 
other  nations  have  given  rise  to  war?  And  even, 
at  last,  this  little  unpleasantness  about  Venezuela. 
[Laughter.]  I  am  glad,  gentlemen,  that  we  can 
laugh  at  that  now.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  You  know 
that  on  our  side  of  the  water  we  love  occasionally 
to  twist  the  British  Lion's  tail  [laughter]  for  the 
mere  sport  of  hearing  him  roar.  [Renewed  laugh 
ter.]  That  time  he  disappointed  us,  he  would  not 
roar  at  all.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  He  sat  as  silent 
and  as  dumb  as  the  Sphinx  itself,  and  by  dint  of 
mutual  forbearance,  of  which  I  have  no  doubt  you 
claim  the  Lion's  share  [laughter]  only  by  virtue  of 
your  national  emblem,  by  our  sober  second  thought, 
aiding  your  sober  first  thought,  we  averted  every 
thing  but  a  mere  war  of  words.  [Cheers.]  And 
now  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  and  an 
ex-President  of  the  United  States  are  shortly 
coming  over  to  Paris,  in  connection  with  similar 
great  representatives  of  your  own  jurists,  to  settle 
that  vexed  question  which  has  agitated  the  remote 
and  obscure  corners  of  the  world.  [' ' Hear !  Hear ! "] 
Before  I  sit  down  I  should  like  to  refer  to  two 
or  three  events  which  have  happened  since  I  have 
been  in  England  which  are  illustrations  of  this  era 
of  good  feeling.  Something  happened  here  that 
I  read  a  great  deal  about  in  the  newspapers  which 
was  talked  about  as  a  great  crisis,  and  when  the 
first  fresh  breezes  blew  away  the  fog,  which  is  one 
of  the  ornaments  of  your  town  [laughter],  that 


264  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

crisis  had  disappeared  by  means  of  peaceful  di 
plomacy.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  That  is  what  we  in 
America  want  to  imitate  and  learn,  and  that  is  the 
kind  of  diplomacy  which  I,  just  entering  upon  a 
diplomatic  career,  desire  very  much  to  extend.  For 
I  am  fresh  enough  to  believe  that  if  these  two 
countries  labor  together  for  peace  and  unite  their 
voices  in  demanding  it,  it  is  almost  sure  in  every 
case.  [Cheers.]  Peace  is  our  paramount  interest, 
and  it  is  also  yours,  and  I  would  like  to  quote  my 
President  again,  for  the  last  words  I  heard  from 
him  were  that  the  United  States  were  to-day  on 
better  terms  with  every  nation  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth  than  they  had  ever  been  before.  [Cheers.] 
I  do  not  know  that  I  ought  to  say  anything  more 
about  our  country.  ["Go  on."]  America,  our 
young  Republic,  has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  during 
the  last  hundred  years;  she  has  had  to  subdue  a 
continent  and  convert  a  wilderness  from  the  At 
lantic  to  the  Pacific  into  a  smiling  and  healthy 
garden.  That  business  has  pretty  nearly  been 
finished  off.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  And  so  last  year 
your  brother  Jonathan  started  out  to  see  the  world. 
[Laughter.]  He  put  on,  not  his  seven  league  boots, 
but  his  700  league  boots,  and  planted  his  footsteps 
on  the  islands  of  the  sea.  [Cheers.]  And  what 
gigantic  strides  he  made.  To  Hawaii,  Manila  and 
another  step  would  have  brought  him  to  Hongkong. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.]  Our  interests  in  commerce 
differ  from  those  of  England,  not  in  kind,  but  in 
degree  only  [cheers],  and  it  is  certainly  by  a 


THE  AMBASSADOE  265 

common  purpose,  and  a  united  voice,  that  we  can 
command  peace  everywhere  for  the  mutual  support 
of  the  commerce  of  the  two  countries."  [Cheers.] 

On  October  28,  1899,  the  borough  of  Longton 
came  into  possession  of  the  Sutherland  Institute 
and  Free  Library,  with  which  was  incorporated  a 
School  of  Art.  The  introductory  ceremony  was 
performed  by  the  Duke  of  Sutherland.  In  his 
remarks  the  Duke  referred  to  the  opening  state 
ment  of  one  of  the  officials  as  having  included  almost 
everything  about  the  Institute,  and  as  having  left 
him  very  little  to  say,  but  that,  luckily,  he  had 
asked  him  to  leave  a  matter  for  him  to  speak  of, 
and  proceeded  with  it.  At  the  conclusion  of  his 
address  Mr.  Choate  was  called  on  and  spoke  as 
follows : 

"Mr.  Mayor,  your  Grace,  and  Ladies  and  Gentle 
men  : — Now  that  his  Grace  has  told  you  all  that  the 
alderman  left  untold,  what  is  there  for  me  to  say? 
[Laughter.]  I  am  placed,  I  think,  in  a  very  em 
barrassing  position — to  fill  a  vacancy,  apparently. 
But  I  am  always  very  proud  to  stand  and  speak 
under  the  joint  protection  of  the  Union  Jack  and 
the  Stars  and  Stripes.  [Cheers.]  Let  us  hope  they 
will  always  float  together.  [Cheers.]  Now,  not 
being  possessed  of  any  technical  education — [laugh 
ter] — I  can  hardly  fill  the  bill  which  his  Grace  has 
announced  for  me.  I  stand  here  not  as  a  repre 
sentative  of  American  Art,  but  I  am  happy  to  think 


266  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

as  the  official  representative  of  your  best  customer. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.]  For  I  believe  we  are  your 
best  customer.  We  take  and  break  all  your  manu 
factures,  and  are  constantly  calling  for  more. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  And  I  believe  no  danger  can 
arise  between  the  two  countries  as  long  as  this  state 
of  things  continues.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  So  long 
as  we  can  grow  wheat  and  corn  on  the  Mississippi 
with  which  we  generously  feed  you — [laughter] — 
and  so  long  as  you  send  us  the  implements  out  of 
which  we  are  to  consume  our  own  food — [laughter] 
— why,  I  am  sure  that  peace  and  amity  and 
sympathy  and  good-will  will  continue  to  prevail. 
[Cheers.]  It  is  true,  as  his  Grace  said,  that  very 
great  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  subject  of 
technical  education  in  America.  I  think  we  received 
a  very  strong  simulus  in  that  regard  some  eighteen 
or  twenty  years  ago,  when  in  a  very  able  report 
presented  by  the  Royal  Commission  for  the  inves 
tigation  of  the  subject  of  technical  education,  it 
was  stated  that  we  were  then  rather  behind 
Continental  nations  in  this  regard,  and  it  was 
the  substance  of  their  report  that  we  relied 
more  upon  the  general  education  of  the  people  in 
our  own  common  schools  for  the  preparation  of  our 
artisans  and  manufacturers  than  on  any  technical 
institutions.  Well,  there  is  something  in  that  about 
which  in  a  few  minutes,  before  I  sit  down,  I  wish 
to  say  a  word  or  two.  It  is  true  that  our  whole 
social  system,  our  whole  national  life,  rests  upon 
the  solid  basis  of  education,  and  that  with  us  every 


THE  AMBASSADOR  267 

boy  and  every  girl  is  entitled  to  receive  at  the 
State's  expense  a  good  primary  and  secondary 
education — [cheers] — the  best  preparation  for  any 
work  or  any  business  or  any  profession  in  life. 
Long  before  there  were  any  such  things  ever  heard 
of  or  thought  of  as  technical  institutions,  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  influence  of  art  and  skill  and  excellence 
in  workmanship  had  a  very  wide  and  commanding 
influence.  The  people  of  Nuremberg,  a  charming 
old  city  which  I  hope  many  of  you  have  visited,  are 
very  proud  of  that  old  couplet  that  has  prevailed 
there  for  two  or  three  or  four  hundred  years — 

'  'All  know  Nuremberg's  hand 
Goes  through  all  the  land ; ' 

and  when  you  see  there  the  exquisite  products  and 
handicrafts  made  by  those  most  celebrated  artisans 
whose  names  have  come  down  through  two  or  three 
centuries,  you  do  not  wonder  they  themselves, 
without  any  organization,  without  any  establish 
ment,  without  any  building,  created  a  school  which 
has  had  effects  that  continue  down  to  this  day.  It 
cannot  be  doubted,  that  a  town  like  Longton  receives 
an  immense  impulse  and  an  extraordinary  benefit 
from  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution  as  this. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  It  is  a  creation.  The  mere 
fact  that  you  have  been  able,  out  of  your  own  public 
spirit  to  create  it,  is  a  proof  that  the  public  opinion 
of  the  citizens  of  this  town  is  satisfied  that  art  and 
taste  and  skill  and  excellence  are  worth  having,  not 


268  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

only  for  their  own  sake,  but  as  merchantable  com 
modities  with  which  they  can  support  and  enrich 
their  posterity  in  future  times.  [Cheers.]  And  so 
I  think  the  people  of  this  town  are  to  be  greatly 
congratulated  upon  the  fact  of  this  opening  to-day. 
I  do  not  claim  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
every  workman  to  have  the  benefit  of  such  an 
institution,  or  the  education  in  such  an  institution 
as  this.  There  are  wonderful  geniuses  who  without 
such  adventitious  aids,  by  the  force  of  their  own 
personality  and  character,  rise  to  the  front  of  any 
calling  or  craft  which  they  undertake.  I  have  read 
that  Josiah  Wedgwood — [cheers] — probably  the 
greatest,  the  most  distinguished  potter  in  England 
—at  any  rate,  outside  of  London — [laughter] — that 
he  was  taken  from  school  before  he  was  ten  years 
old  and  placed  in  a  pottery,  and  then  made  those 
rapid  advances  to  fame  and  fortune  with  which  you 
are  all  perfectly  familiar.  There  are  many  men  in 
many  arts  to  which  such  institutions  as  these  con 
tribute  who  can  dispense  with  them — the  men  of 
genius  like  those  great  engineers,  for  instance,  who 
have  done  so  large  a  part  in  the  making  of  Eng 
land,  and  who  have  become  so  distinguished  them 
selves.  One  of  the  most  fascinating  romances  that 
I  have  ever  read  is  Smiles '  book  of  the  Lives  of  the 
British  Engineers.  Almost  every  one  of  them  came 
out  of  nothing  to  be  the  head  and  front  of  England's 
pride  and  glory.  [Cheers.]  But  I  am  speaking  of 
the  average  man,  the  average  woman,  who  is  to  earn 
his  or  her  livelihood  in  such  handicrafts  as  this 


THE  AMBASSADOR  269 

institution  will  chiefly  contribute  to.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  this,  added  to  the  elementary  education, 
the  general  education,  which  they  are  sure  to  re 
ceive  in  a  community  like  this,  and  without  which 
no  one  of  them  ought  to  be  allowed  to  grow  to 
maturity — that  they  will  receive  enormous  benefits. 
[Cheers.]  Here  I  can,  perhaps,  contribute  one  idea 
of  American — well,  I  won't  say  origin,  because  it 
is  so  obvious,  so  palpable,  that  it  seems  to  me  it 
must  have  occurred  to  everybody  who  has  consid 
ered  this  subject  at  all.  I  have  referred  to  the 
universal  education  with  which  we  are  blessed  in 
our  country  across  the  water,  but  one  thing  I  think 
is  clear.  Having  observed  the  workingmen  of 
many  countries,  especially  the  mechanics  of  the 
various  countries,  I  am  sure  that  artistic  and  tech 
nical  education,  in  the  way  of  their  trade,  will  never 
suffice  to  make  them  what  they  ought  to  be,  unless 
it  rests  for  its  foundation  and  preparation  upon  as 
complete  an  elementary  education  as  it  is  possible 
for  each  of  them  to  receive.  [Applause.]  It  is  so 
in  all  professions  that  I  know  anything  about:  the 
technical  education  should  come  on  top  of  any 
secondary  and  elementary  education.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  Take  a  lawyer  for  instance — a  profession 
with  which  I  am  considerably  familiar.  [Laughter.] 
If  a  boy  begins  to  study  law  as  a  boy  before  he  has 
the  advantage  of  a  high  school,  a  collegiate,  univer 
sity  education,  he  will  be  following  a  stern  chase  all 
his  life.  It  is  impossible  for  him  to  compete  with 
men  who  have  had  the  superior  advantage  of  the 


270  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

general  intelligence,  that  more  diffused,  and  dis 
tributed  knowledge,  which  comes  from  what  is 
called  classical  education.  I  would  not  recommend 
every  man  who  is  to  be  trained  to  work  in  a  pottery, 
whether  as  workman,  foreman  or  manager,  to  give 
much  of  his  time  to  classical  preparation,  but  I  was 
delighted  to  hear  Sir  Andrew  Noble — whose  name 
you  will  recognize  as  the  now  leading  working  part 
ner  in  the  great  firm  of  Armstrong  and  Company — 
["hear,  hear"] — the  other  day  say,  that  the  little 
Latin  he  learned  in  a  common  school  (and  there  was 
very  little  of  it)  had  been  a  joy  and  benefit  to  him 
throughout  all  his  life.  [Applause.]  So  I  say, 
secure  for  these  boys  and  girls  before  you  turn  them 
into  the  potteries — before  you  add  the  superstruc 
ture  of  technical  education — secure  to  them  as  much 
general  knowledge  in  the  common  schools  (grammar 
schools  or  higher  schools,  or  whatever  name  you 
give  them)  as  it  is  possible  for  them  to  secure. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  It  will  not  only  add  to  their 
happiness,  but  it  will  add  vastly  to  their  utility. 
That  brings  me  to  the  particular  point  about  the 
workingman  that  my  observation  has  led  me  to, 
and  that  is,  that  where  the  workingman  knows  only 
just  the  little  bit  of  duty  and  of  labor  that  is 
expected  from  him  to  perform  in  these  days  of 
absolute  division  of  labor  down  to  the  minutest 
details,  if  he  knows  nothing  else,  he  is  one  of  the 
most  uninteresting  people  to  himself  and  everyone 
else  that  it  is  possible  to  find.  [Applause.]  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  various  elements  in  the  work  of 


THE  AMBASSADOR  271 

the  potter — that  trade  which  has  been  going  on  for 
so  many  centuries;  it  began,  I  believe,  when  Adam 
and  Eve  were  turned  out  of  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
[Laughter.]  There  they  needed  no  pottery,  and 
it  is  the  only  human  association  I  have  heard  of 
that  didn't  need  it,  or  had  to  do  without  it.  [Laugh 
ter.]  They  must  have  become  potters  themselves 
from  prime  necessity.  [Laughter.]  How  could 
they  eat,  how  could  they  drink  without  some  im 
plement,  utensil,  dishes,  out  of  which  to  absorb 
their  food  and  drink? — the  various  elements  in  the 
work  of  the  potter,  I  say,  are  divided  into  very 
minute  details ;  one  man  does  one  thing,  one  another, 
and  another  another,  so  that  there  may  be,  perhaps, 
ten,  fifteen  or  twenty  go  to  work  upon  a  dish  before 
it  is  turned  out  complete.  Now  as  it  is  necessary 
in  the  division  of  labor  that  each  one  of  those  should 
be  confined  to  a  particular  small  detail  of  work,  if 
that  is  all  he  has  to  do  through  life,  if  he  has  to 
spend  his  days  in  that  and  his  nights  in  sleep,  why 
Mr.  Mallock's  question  whether  life  is  worth  living 
would  be  easily  answered  in  the  negative.  [Laugh 
ter  and  cheers.]  I  don't  think  Mr.  Mayor  would 
consent  to  live  an  existence  like  that  very  long;  he 
would  wish  to  be  gathered  to  his  fathers,  if  that 
was  all  there  was.  [Laughter.]  And  so  I  say  give 
those  who  are  to  be  your  future  artisans,  future 
foremen,  future  managers,  all  the  bases  for  success 
in  life,  for  enjoyment  of  life,  for  usefulness  in  life 
that  you  possibly  can,  by  securing  as  rich  and  full 
an  elementary  education  as  it  is  possible  for  you 


272  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

to  give  them.  [Cheers.]  I  understand  that  is  the 
object  of  the  whole  school  system  of  England — the 
primary,  the  secondary  education,  and(this  technical 
education — it  is  to  make  up  for  what  in  old  times 
was  given  to  the  growing  boy  and  man  by  the  ap 
prenticeship  system,  where  every  man  learned  the 
whole  of  his  trade.  Nobody  now — except  foremen 
and  managers — [laughter] — learns  the  whole  of  any 
trade,  and  the  way  in  which  they  can  learn  them 
under  the  present  system  is  in  such  schools  and 
institutions  as  you  have  the  great  good  fortune  to 
have  had  opened  for  you  to-day.  [Cheers.]  I  wish 
it  all  success.  I  don't  believe  you  have  failed  to 
follow  out  in  its  construction  and  its  equipment  the 
latest  improvements,  the  latest  ideas,  prevailing 
either  in  America  or  on  the  Continent,  or  in  the 
United  Kingdom ;  and  I  must  congratulate  you  upon 
one  thing,  the  name  you  have  given  it.  [Cheers.] 
The  Sutherland  Institute  will  inspire  you  always 
with  the  ambition,  the  earnest  and  never  failing 
desire  to  make  it  worthy  of  the  name.  [Cheers.]" 

He  was  generous  to  the  Institute  for  at  the  suc 
ceeding  banquet  in  the  evening  he  again  spoke.  He 
said: 

"Mr.  Mayor,  your  Grace  and  Gentlemen  of 
Longton: — I  thank  you  for  listening  to  this  our 
National  Anthem  and  for  applauding  it  to  the  echo 
with  such  cordiality.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  The 
Anglo-Saxon  race  is  so  thoroughly  able  to  take  care 


THE  AMBASSADOR  273 

of  itself  against  all  comers — [cheers] — on  every 
land  and  on  every  sea,  that  I  will  ask  your  indul 
gence  while  I  touch  upon  one  or  two  other  topics 
before  paying  my  respects  to  it.  When  I  received 
the  very  cordial  and  hospitable  invitation  of  your 
distinguished  Mayor  to  attend  this  banquet,  I  was 
so  pressed  with  engagements  that  I  had  the  folly 
and  the  temerity  to  decline.  But  he  handed  me  over 
to  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Sutherland — [cheers] — 
who  proved  himself  to  be  the  most  consummate 
artisan  in  all  Staffordshire.  [Laughter.]  In  his 
hands,  I  was  like  clay — [laughter] — and  he  shaped 
me  to  his  own  will  and  his  own  purposes  according 
to  the  fashion  of  the  members  of  this  banquet. 
[Laughter.]  Now,  I  want  to  say  a  word  about  pot 
teries  and  potters.  I  cannot  keep  my  mind  off  that 
pressing  and  urgent  subject.  When  I  consider  the 
antiquity  of  your  craft — for  I  assume,  Mr.  Chair 
man,  that  the  craft  fills  all  these  tables — when  I 
consider  the  antiquity  of  your  craft,  and  that  its 
products  mark  the  whole  history  of  the  human 
race  from  the  beginning  in  Egypt,  four  thousand 
years  before  the  Christian  era,  skillful,  artistic, 
distinguished  potters  were  there.  In  the  remote 
civilization  of  Babylon  and  of  Nineveh  the  work 
of  their  hands  reveals  the  civilization  that  then 
reigned.  On  the  Continent  of  North  America,  the 
work  of  the  North  American  Indians — who  are  all 
of  your  craft — underlying  the  soil  of  all  the  States, 
reappears  from  time  to  time  to  tell  the  measure 
of  their  culture  and  their  progress.  ["Hear! 


274  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Hear!"]  When  I  reflect  upon  the  immense  utility 
of  your  craft,  how  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
men  are  daily  dependent  upon  the  fruits  of  your 
labors — go  where  you  will,  in  every  Continent,  you 
will  find  the  products  of  these  very  potteries  that 
form  these  chains  of  rival  and  friendly  townships 
and  factories  in  Staffordshire — [cheers] — when  I 
consider  that  wealth  and  prosperity  and  culture 
have  attended  as  the  legitimate  result  of  your 
labors,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  must  be  almost 
beside  yourselves  with  pride  in  your  calling  and  in 
your  success.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  And  my 
only  wonder  is  that  you  do  not  daily  fall  into  the 
error  of  the  misguided  Methodist  minister  who 
made  the  mistake  in  addressing  the  Throne  of 
Grace,  when  he  said,  'Oh,  Lord,  we  remember  that 
Thou  art  the  clay  and  we  are  the  potters.'  [Laugh 
ter.]  I  want  to  say  a  word  about  this  town  of 
Longton,  the  hospitalities  of  whose  chief  magistrate 
we  are  enjoying  to-night.  The  town  system  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  the  liberties  of  America.  I 
believe  the  town  system  of  England  is  the  source 
from  which  we  got  it,  and  that  is  the  nursery  of 
liberty  and  of  knowledge  of  public  affairs  through 
out  all  the  realms  of  the  kingdom.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  In  the  brief  service  that  I  have  already 
had  in  this  country,  I  have  been  struck  with  ad 
miration  at  the  excellence  of  your  public  service. 
It  does  seem  as  we  look  upon  the  holders  of  great 
offices — yes,  of  great  offices — and  small  offices  con 
nected  with  the  National  Government,  that  merit 


THE  AMBASSADOR  275 

and  fitness  are  the  recognized  and  requisite  qualifi 
cations  for  office.  [Cheers.]  And  I  have  found 
to-day  what  I  might  have  been  prepared  to  expect, 
that  that  excellence  of  public  service  in  national 
affairs  extends  also  to  affairs  municipal;  and  I  do 
not  know  where  a  more  worthy  and  striking  instance 
of  its  perfection  can  be  found  than  in  that  dis 
tinguished  gentleman  whose  hospitalities  we  are  all 
enjoying  to-night.  [Cheers.]  It  seems  he  has  filled 
the  office  of  Mayor  of  Longton  in  all  these  years 
not  for  any  political  advancement  of  himself,  or 
anybody  else,  nor  for  any  personal  gain  or  benefit 
that  may  accrue  to  himself,  but  solely  for  the  good 
and  benefit  of  his  fellow-citizens  over  whom  he 
presides.  [Cheers.]  With  his  self-denial,  self- 
sacrifice,  and  absolute  devotion  he  gave  himself  up 
to  the  work  that  was  consummated  to-day,  and  has 
conferred  upon  this  city,  in  return  for  the  honor  it 
has  conferred  upon  him,  a  benefit  which  will  last  for 
all  coming  time.  [Cheers.]  For  it  seems  to-day, 
from  the  spirit  I  saw  manifested  this  afternoon  and 
here  to-night,  that  Longton  has  been  born  again. 
[Laughter  and  Cheers.]  It  takes  a  great  step 
forward  in  culture,  in  prosperity  and  in  its  recog 
nized  devotion  to  science  and  art.  I  think  the  day 
will  be  a  memorable  one — long  looked  back  upon  by 
those  surviving  it,  and  those  who  come  after  them, 
as  a  veritable  step  forward  in  its  striking  municipal 
career.  And  now  a  word  or  two  about  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  I  shan't  say  very 
much  about  them,  because  my  friend  Mr.  Smalley 


276  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

knows  a  great  deal  more  of  them,  and  is  following 
in  my  footsteps.  [Cries  of  "Go  on."]  Now  the  pure 
and  simple  Anglo-Saxon  race  is,  as  a  matter  of  his 
tory,  somewhat  remote  possibly.  Features  of  it  sur 
vive.  Its  grand  impelling  power  survives.  [Cheers.] 
Its  devotion  to  justice  and  freedom  and  civilization 
survive.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  But  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  has  been  a  little  diluted;  it  has  been  a  little 
mixed.  Didn't  the  Danes  come  and  leave  their  mark 
in  these  Islands?  [Laughter.]  And  did  not  the 
Normans  come,  and  for  a  little  while,  for  a  few  cen 
turies,  appear  to  get  the  better  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  I 
Now  here  is  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Sutherland — 
[cheers] — posing  as  an  Anglo-Saxon.  [Laughter.] 
I  don 't  know,  but  if  we  had  a  skillful  analysis  of  his 
blood,  if  Pasteur  or  some  equally  skillful  scientist 
could  draw  some  of  that  rich  liquid  blood  from  his 
veins,  and  examine  it,  they  would  find  a  little  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  a  good  deal  of  Scotch — [laughter] — 
some  Norman,  and  what  part  of  it  would  be  finally 
eliminated  and  set  aside  as  pure  Anglo-Saxon 
liquid,  I  for  one  cannot  guess,  and  I  do  not  believe 
he  can.  Why,  I  saw  at  Trentham  to-day  a  huge 
volume  of  the  Sutherland  pedigree.  It  would  re 
quire  a  careful  reading  of  all  its  pages  in  the  light 
of  history,  geography  and  family  life.  Well,  now, 
when  you  come  upon  our  side  of  the  water  there  is 
a  still  more  modern  blend.  We  get  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  once  or  twice  removed,  all  mingling  with  the 
Danes  and  Normans — then  what  took  place!  Why, 
there  flowed  into  our  national  veins  copious  streams 


THE  AMBASSADOR  277 

of  rich  blood  from  other  nations  of  Europe.  First 
came  the  Huguenots — [cheers] — refugees  for  lib 
erty — [cheers] — and  their  strain  was  mingled 
with  ours.  [' l  Hear !  Hear ! ' ']  Then  came  the  Irish 
—  [cheers] — bringing  in  a  rich  vein  of  addition  to 
our  blood,  rendering  great  service  on  many  fields, 
and  in  many  successive  generations.  The  Scotch 
came  away  back  with  William  Penn,  and  afterwards. 
They  occupied  whole  counties  and  their  generous 
blood  entered  in  to  make  our  composition.  And  then 
the  German  came,  a  most  copious  tide  of  kindred 
blood,  and  that  has  mingled  in  our  veins.  And  since 
then  all  the  Scandinavian  regions,  and  Italy,  finally, 
have  sent  rich  contributions.  Now,  then,  what  is  the 
result  ?  Why  a  new  man  has  been  created.  He  fills 
with  seething  masses  of  population  all  the  region 
that  lies  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  He  rules  America.  He  is  not  an  Eng 
lishman,  nor  a  Scotchman,  nor  an  Irishman,  nor  an 
imitation  of  any  of  those  nations  of  Europe ;  but  he 
combines  them  all.  [Cheers.]  And  in  the  compo 
sition  it  is  a  new  and  perfect  blend.  What  will 
come  of  it  time  will  only  show.  I  can  speak  for  his 
indomitable  will  to  maintain  liberty — ["hear! 
hear"] — and  his  high  resolve  that  that  liberty  shall 
always  be  protected  by  law.  [Cheers.]  Now,  then, 
we  are  under  divers  obligations  by  this  kinship 
which  we  bear  not  only  to  England,  not  only  to 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  to  Germany,  but  to  all 
those  nations  of  which  we  are  in  part  made  up. 
And  if  I  understand  rightly  the  will  and  purpose 


278  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

of  the  American  people  it  is  to  maintain  peace  and 
friendship  with  all,  so  long  as  it  can  be  possibly  done 
with  honor.  [Loud  cheers.]  Of  you  we  feel  sure. 
[Loud  cheers.]  Of  the  others  we  feel  sure.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  For  eighty-five  years  we  have  settled  all 
our  controversies  with  you,  with  peace  and  honor; 
and,  if  I  rightly  recollect,  we  have  not  had  a  quarrel 
that  required  resort  to  force  with  any  of  the  others. 
Well,  what  do  you  see?  It  is  not  exactly  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  race.  I  prefer  the  other  form,  in  which  his 
Grace  has  expressed  it — the  English-speaking  peo 
ples.  [Loud  cheers.]  I  think  the  English-speaking 
people,  scattered  on  all  the  continents,  and  all  the 
islands  of  the  sea,  has  achieved,  and  is  daily  achiev 
ing  wonders  for  civilization.  It  seems  to  me  to  have 
borne  in  mind  more  thoroughly  and  directly  than 
any  other  people  the  injunction  that  was  first  laid 
upon  mankind:  "Be  fruitful  and  multiply,  and  re 
plenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it :  and  have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air, 
and  all  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over 
every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth." 
[Much  laughter.]  And  so  I  say,  as  a  concluding 
sentiment  on  behalf  of  these  English-speaking  peo 
ples  throughout  the  world,  wherever  they  have  do 
minion,  under  whichever  flag,  may  they  be  true  to 
their  responsibilities  and  maintain  always  honor, 
justice,  civilization,  and  liberty."  [Loud  cheers.] 

At  a  large  banquet  in  aid  of  the  Actors  Fund 
Mr.  Choate  was  called  on  to  propose  a  toast  to 


THE  AMBASSADOR  279 

"The    Drama"    which    he    did    as    follows.      He 
said : 

He  had  to  thank  them  for  this  generous  greeting, 
though  he  must  confess  that  he  should  have  pre 
ferred  to  accept  their  hospitality  in  silence ;  but  the 
inexorable  commands  of  the  chairman  had  laid  upon 
him  the  somewhat  onerous  duty  of  proposing  the 
time-honored  toast  of  "The  Drama. "  It  had,  it 
seemed,  been  proposed  at  forty-three  previous  din 
ners  to  the  institution,  although  he  had  had  no  part 
in  it.  He  had  been  studying  the  great  national  in 
stitution  in  England  of  the  dinner  for  charitable 
purposes,  and  studying  it  with  great  interest.  It 
was  something  entirely  unknown  upon  the  other  side 
of  the  water.  They  had  charities  enough  there ;  but 
this  way  of  promoting  charities  had  never  occurred 
to  them.  He  had  tried  to  extort  from  the  Chairman 
the  reason  why  the  dinner  was  resorted  to  for  the 
purpose  of  charity.  An  old  philosopher,  discuss 
ing  the  question  as  to  what  part  of  the  human  or 
ganism  the  soul  was  placed  in,  noticed  the  theory 
of  its  seat  being  the  stomach.  Promoters  of  chari 
table  dinners  might  probably,  in  that  way,  eat  them 
selves  into  the  pockets  of  their  guests,  and  wash  out 
the  contents  thereof  with  copious  draughts  of  wine. 
It  was  a  practice  which  he  proposed,  when  he  re 
turned  to  his  native  country,  to  introduce  there.  The 
result,  he  was  perfectly  sure,  would  be  that  these 
charitable  dinners  would  there  be  multiplied  as  they 
seemed  to  be  here,  so  as  to  be  held  every  night  in 


280  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  year.  With  regard  to  the  immediate  subject  of 
his  toast,  he  had  never  been  connected  with  the 
drama  except  in  one  capacity,  and  that  was  as  one 
of  the  audience.  That,  in  one  respect,  was  perhaps 
the  most  important  part  of  the  drama ;  for  what  be 
came  of  playwrights,  actors,  scene-shifters,  ballet 
dancers  and  all  the  rest  if  there  was  no  audience? 
For  many  years  past  American  actors  and  actresses 
had  done  much  to  ennoble  their  calling,  and  when 
they  had  come  to  England  they  had  been  received 
with  enthusiasm.  It  was  Charlotte  Cushman  who 
said:  "To  me  it  seems  that  when  God  conceived  the 
world,  that  was  poetry.  He  formed  it,  and  that  was 
sculpture.  He  colored  it — that  was  painting.  He 
peopled  it  with  living  beings — that  was  the  Grand 
Divine  Eternal  Drama."  Of  late  years  America  had 
been  visited  by  dramatic,  performers  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and,  besides  receiving  a  most  cordial 
and  hearty  welcome,  they  carried  away  with  them, 
if  statistics  were  to  be  believed,  vast  hoards  of  treas 
ure;  but  much  as  they  carried  away,  they  left  be 
hind  them  a  great  deal  more  than  they  expected, 
for  they  magnified  their  calling,  and  let  the  Amer 
ican  people  learn  from  their  acting,  singing  and 
dancing  what  was  the  highest  art  that  could  be  at 
tained  to  on  the  dramatic  side  of  life.  Only  in  the 
last  twenty-four  hours  Englishmen,  and  the  friends 
of  Englishmen  everywhere,  had  had  their  hearts 
touched  and  fused  together  with  a  spirit  of  broad 
and  generous  enthusiasm,  such  as  the  world  has  sel 
dom  witnessed;  and  when  they  found  that  the  Sov- 


THE  AMBASSADOR  281 

ereign  who  had  mastered  the  affections  of  mankind 
was  the  chief  subscriber  to  this  charity,  they  could 
not,  as  Englishmen,  fail  to  follow  in  her  footsteps. 
If  they  went  back  to  the  days  of  that  wonderful 
agency  which  electrified  London,  and  the  whole  Eng 
lish-speaking  world  that  came  within  the  power  of 
his  voice,  it  might  be  said  that  David  Garrick  placed 
the  stage  of  England  upon  a  prominence  which  it 
had  hardly  been  able  to  attain  to  since.  The  century 
had  been  dotted  along  its  course  with  great  and 
illustrious  names — such  as  Siddons,  Kemble,  Kean 
and  Macready — and  it  might  be  said  that  during 
the  last  twenty-five  years  the  stage  had  reached  a 
point  of  greater  utility  and  influence  than  it  had 
ever  occupied  before.  This  was  owing,  he  believed, 
to  the  fact  that  it  had  been  brought  into  closer 
union  with  the  great  body  of  the  people  both  in  Eng 
land  and  America.  What  years  ago  was  enjoyed 
by  dukes  and  nobles  had  now  become  the  property 
of  the  whole  people.  When  Sir  Henry  Irving,  whom 
both  nations  undoubtedly  looked  upon  as  the  lead 
ing  representative  of  the  drama  and  the  stage, 
played  at  the  Lyceum,  he  played  not  merely  to  the 
boxes  and  stalls  and  the  galleries,  but  he  played  to 
all  London  and  all  the  world,  and  one  of  the  great 
measures  of  happiness  was  that,  when  Sir  Henry 
became  a  little  tired  of  London,  he  went  to  America, 
and  left  behind  him  marks  of  his  enlightenment  and 
education  and  refinement.  He  was  very  strongly 
attracted  to  that  dinner  by  the  fact  that  Lord  Dart 
mouth  was  to  occupy  the  chair.  The  name  of  Dart- 


282  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

mouth  had  been  a  favorite  and  a  loved  one  for  many 
generations  in  America.  It  was  his  lordship's  an 
cestor  that,  as  Secretary  for  the  Colonies — long  be 
fore  the  unhappy  differences  which  parted  England 
and  America — showed  himself  to  be  a  true  friend 
of  liberty  and  justice,  and  he  never  lost  the  confi 
dence  of  the  American  people.  It  was  he  who 
founded  Dartmouth  College,  one  of  the  most  inter 
esting  educational  institutions  in  America,  and  when 
his  picture  was  on  its  way  from  London  to  Dart 
mouth  College,  the  walls  of  which  it  was  intended  to 
adorn,  the  citizens  of  New  York  obtained  possession 
of  the  portrait,  and  placed  it  between  those  of  Wash 
ington  and  Benjamin  Franklin  in  the  City  Hall. 
Great  responsibility  rested  upon  actors  and  drama 
tists,  and  he  was  glad  to  be  able  to  feel  that  they 
fully  realized  it.  They  were  engaged  in  an  honor 
able  calling,  for  in  showing  how  the  passions  of  the 
human  mind  could  be  most  nobly  expressed,  they 
were  both  educating  and  refining  the  mind  of  both 
nations.  Now,  with  regard  to  that  fund,  was  it  pos 
sible  for  anyone  to  hesitate  to  do  something  for  it? 
What  more  unhappy  being  could  there  be  than  the 
decayed  actor?  Most  of  them  had  heard  the  story 
told  about  Grimaldi,  the  famous  clown,  who  was  the 
victim  of  severe  nervous  prostration,  and  went  to 
see  Dr.  Abernethy.  The  latter  said  his  patient 
wanted  amusement,  and  added  "Go  and  see 
Grimaldi. "  The  clown  turned  to  the  doctor  in  deeper 
distress  than  ever,  and  exclaimed,  "I  am  Grimaldi !" 
Those  aged,  worn-out  actors,  who  had  had  their 


THE  AMBASSADOE  283 

day  on  the  stage,  appealed  as  much  as  any  class 
that  could  be  mentioned  not  only  to  the  generosity 
and  charity  but  to  the  gratitude  of  their  f  ellowmen. 
He  would  therefore  urge,  as  earnestly  as  he  possibly 
could,  everyone  who  had  the  means  in  his  power,  to 
contribute  to  this  noble  Fund.  He,  however,  bore  in 
mind  the  rule  they  had  established  in  America,  that 
short  speeches  were  the  best,  but  whether  that  ap 
plied  to  Ambassadors  or  not  he  could  not  say.  He 
should  now  resume  his  seat,  having  discharged  the 
very  pleasant  duty  which  had  been  imposed  upon 
him,  coupling  with  the  toast  the  name  of  one  of  the 
most  earnest  friends  and  advocates  of  the  stage  in 
England,  and  one  who  had  justly  received,  as  he 
deserved,  the  plaudits  of  everyone  interested  in  this 
great  profession — he  meant  Mr.  Comyns  Carr. 

On  July  5,  1900,  the  American  Society  in  London 
celebrated  " Independence  Day"  with  a  banquet,  at 
which  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman  proposed  a 
toast  to  the  health  of  "His  Excellency  the  American 
Ambassador."  Mr.  Choate  in  reply  said: 

"I  have  been  long  enough  in  England  to  find  that 
Englishmen  never  spared  an  American's  blushes. 
[Laughter.]  Was  this,  he  asked,  the  Fourth  of 
July!  Was  this  the  spirit  of  1776?  ["No,  no."] 
In  the  heart  of  the  British  Empire,  from  which  the 
edict  went  forth  for  the  subjugation  and  destruction 
of  the  Americans,  were  they  really  celebrating  that 
declaration  which  stripped  Great  Britain  of  her 


284:  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

richest  Colonies,  and  declared  them  henceforth  to 
be  for  ever  free  and  independent  States  1  Were  they 
aided  in  that  celebration  by  such  an  array  of  dis 
tinguished  Englishmen  who  sat  at  that  table  ?  What 
would  George  IV.  and  Lord  North  say — [loud 
cheers  and  laughter] — if  they  found  the  Comman- 
der-in-Chief  of  the  British  Army  and  the  heads  of 
the  Church  and  State,  and  Bench,  and  all  the  great 
professions,  applauding  that  declaration  and  cele 
brating  that  day?  [Laughter.]  When  he  saw  what 
a  predicament  they  were  in  that  night  with  their 
English  visitors,  he  was  satisfied  that  the  day  they 
celebrated  was  no  longer  merely  a  national,  but  had 
become  an  international,  holiday.  [Loud  cheers.] 
"Instead  of  being  any  longer  a  mere  American 
festival,  it  had  become,  as  it  ought  always  to  be  in 
the  future,  an  Anglo-American  festival.  [Loud 
cheers.]  Was  it  not  plain  that  the  time  had  come 
when  the  two  great  nations,  upon  which  Providence 
seemed  to  have  cast  so  vast  a  share  of  responsibility 
for  the  future,  were  to  be  friends  not  only  for  their 
own  sakes,  but  for  the  sakes  of  all  mankind? 
[Cheers.]  They  called  it  the  American  Eevolution 
which  the  day  they  celebrated  ushered  in,  but  it  had 
brought  about  an  English  Eevolution,  too.  The 
stone  which  the  builders  rejected  had  become  the 
head  of  the  corner — [laughter  and  applause] — and 
their  old  friends,  Burke,  Chatham  and  Fox  to-day 
dictated  the  policy  of  the  British  Empire,  as  they 
always  expected  they  would.  Their  quarrel  never 
had  been  with  the  great  body  of  the  British  people. 


THE  AMBASSADOR  285 

[Cheers.]  If  the  hearts  of  the  British  people  had 
been  in  it,  they  would  not  have  sent  over  foreign 
mercenaries  in  a  vain  attempt  at  subjugation,  but 
the  best  blood  of  England,  in  all  ranks  of  its  great 
life,  would  have  rallied  against  the  Americans  in 
the  spirit  in  which  they  knew  how  well  they  would 
rally  in  a  cause  that  appealed  to  their  hearts.  [Loud 
cheers.]  It  had  been  well  said  by  a  great  writer 
that  Ambassadors  were  the  eye  and  ear,  but  not 
the  tongue  of  the  State  which  sent  them  forth,  and, 
therefore,  he  would  do  no  more  than  express  the 
gratitude  of  all  his  countrymen  for  the  cordial,  he 
might  say  overwhelming,  hospitality  which  was 
always  lavished  upon  them  whenever  they  appeared 
upon  the  shores  of  England.  How  the  tables  had 
been  turned.  If  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century  30,000  Englishmen  invaded  America,  Amer 
ica  in  1900  was  sending  100,000  to  invade  England, 
and  to  take  London  by  storm."  [Loud  laughter.] 

At  the  Ancient  Cutlers'  Feast  in  Sheffield  allusion 
had  evidently  been  made  to  an  American  invasion 
of  England — that  annual  "  invasion "  by  the  hosts 
of  Americans  visiting  her  shores.  To  this  Mr. 
Choate  refers  and,  in  his  happiest  vein,  makes  it 
apparent  that  Sheffield  furnishes  the  "union  of 
steel,  the  iron-clad  union "  that  binds  the  two  coun 
tries  together.  Replying  to  a  toast  in  his  honor, 
proposed  by  Mr.  Balfour,  he  said: 

"I  really  do  not  see  that  there  is  any  occasion  for 
me  to  say  anything.  [Laughter.]  Mr.  Balfour 


286  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

has  made  my  speech.  He  has  demonstrated,  at  any 
rate,  that  I  do  not  present  myself  before  you  as  an 
American  invader.  [Laughter.]  He  has  dissipated 
as  a  delusion  and  a  dream  this  idea  that  has  been 
hovering  over  the  British  Islands  for  the  last  six 
months — that  there  was  any  such  a  thing,  in  any 
hostile  sense,  as  an  American  invasion.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  My  predecessors  have  been  the  welcome 
guests  of  England  ever  since  you  first  recognized 
the  independence  of  the  United  States.  [Cheers.] 
Our  business  is  to  uphold  American  interests,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  do  all  that  in  us  lies  to  promote 
friendly  and  cordial  relations  between  the  Govern 
ments  and  the  people  of  the  two  countries.  [Cheers.] 
Judge  you  to-night  how  happy  and  cordial  those 
relations  have,  at  last,  come  to  be.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  American  Ministers  and  Ambassadors 
have  frequently  attended  this  ancient  Cutlers '  Feast, 
and  they  have  carried  home  to  their  country  the  most 
delightful  recollections  and  associations  of  it,  and 
I  should  have  been  guilty,  not  merely  of  neglect  of 
duty,  but  of  missing  an  opportunity — a  delightful 
opportunity — for  a  good  time,  if  I  had  failed  to  ac 
cept  the  invitation  that  the  Master  Cutler  extended 
to  me.  [Cheers.]  He  would  be  a  bold  American 
who  at  this  moment  could  think  of  approaching 
Sheffield  with  any  hostile  view.  [Laughter.]  To 
day  you  have  made  Lord  Kitchener  a  freeman  of 
this  great  city,  and  have  thereby  thrown  upon  him 
the  responsibility  of  defending  it  at  all  hazards,  and 
against  all  comers.  By  that  simple  and  graceful  act, 


THE  AMBASSADOR  287 

which  we  all  witnessed,  you  have  more  than  doubled 
the  fortifications  of  Sheffield.  [Laughter.]  Yes, 
you  have  thrown  about  it  an  ideal,  but  none  the  less 
impregnable,  cordon  of  blockhouses  and  barbed 
wire,  which  he  would,  indeed,  be  a  reckless  American 
that  would  endeavor  to  throw  himself  against. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.]  But  Lord  Kitchener  is  not 
your  only  defender.  Here,  sitting  upon  my  right, 
is  the  hereditary  Earl  Marshal  of  Great  Britain. 
[Cheers.]  It  is  his  pleasant  and  dignified  duty,  in 
correlation  to  the  labors  of  Lord  Kitchener,  to  mar 
shal,  in  peaceful  times,  the  forces  of  His  Majesty. 
On  all  historic  occasions  he  is  the  master  of  the  sit 
uation.  In  every  such  case  it  is  for  him  to  say  who 
shall  come  in,  and  who  shall  stay  out.  I  appreciate 
his  devotion  to  Sheffield,  and  I  know  the  enthusiasm 
of  Sheffield  for  him — [cheers] — and  I  am  sure  he 
never  would  consent  to  admit  we  are  here  to-night 
with  any  hostile  purpose.  [Laughter.] 

"But  you  have  other  defenders,  more  potent  than 
Lord  Kitchener,  and  more  persuasive  than  the  Earl 
Marshal— I  mean  the  presence  of  the  better  halves, 
the  better-half,  the  best  part  of  all  Sheffield,  that  oc 
cupies  the  gallery.  [Laughter.]  You  will  agree 
with  me  that  they  would  disarm  any  invader — 
[laughter] — and  would  bring  a  man  to  his  knees  at 
their  feet.  Why  it  is  that  they  are  relegated  to  the 
galleries  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  discover,  unless 
it  be  that  we  may  always  continue  to  look  up  to 
those  from  whom  we  derive  our  chief  strength  and 
inspiration.  [Cheers.]  I  believe  there  is  an  his- 


288  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

toric  reason  for  their  being  relegated  to  those  dis 
tant  seats,  instead  of  occupying  alternate  places  at 
these  tables.  I  have  found  that  it  is  a  perfectly 
sound  and  unanswerable  English  argument  that  a 
thing  shall  be  done  because  it  has  always  been  done 
—[laughter]— and  that  a  thing  shall  not  be  done 
because  it  has  never  been  done.  [Eenewed  laugh 
ter.]  Now,  historically,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
situation  is  clear.  When  this  first  Cutlers'  Feast 
was  held  in  1624  there  were  nothing  but  appren 
tices.  They  had  no  wives.  [Laughter.]  No  ladies. 
In  1724  they  had  not  yet  risen  to  the  appreciation 
of  their  true  position.  In  1824  they  were  sleeping 
upon  their  rights,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  inquire  too 
critically  how  they  appeared  on  that  occasion.  And 
when  another  century  has  completed  its  course  in 
1924,  the  world  is  advancing  so  steadily,  enfran 
chisement  of  all  mankind  is  being  so  perfectly  ac 
complished,  they  will  occupy  their  proper  place  on 
the  400th  anniversary  of  this  company. 

"I  have  come  here  to-night  as  the  legitimate  rep 
resentative  of  your  best  customers  and  your  near 
est  relations.  [Cheers.]  Sheffield  and  the  United 
States  have  been  bound  together  for  more  than 
half  a  century  literally  by  links  of  steel,  and  they 
are  more  closely  united  now  than  they  ever  have 
been  before.  [Cheers.]  In  fact,  the  name  of  Shef 
field  is  a  household  word  in  America,  and  has  been 
for  many  generations.  It  is  significant  of  absolute 
good  faith,  and  is  a  synonym  in  America  always  for 
the  genuine  article.  [Cheers.]  Let  me  give  you 


THE  AMBASSADOR  289 

an  illustration.  Half  a  century  ago  the  American 
boy  thought  he  was  in  luck  who  carried  in  his  pocket 
a  knife  on  which  was  stamped  the  name  of  Joseph 
Rodgers  and  Sons,  Sheffield.  [Cheers.]  They  knew 
that  they  had  got  the  best  that  could  be  had  the 
world  over,  and  if  there  is  any  representative  of 
that  ancient  house  present  at  this  table  I  desire  to 
thank  him,  in  the  name  of  the  American  boys  of  my 
generation,  for  the  splendid  service  the  firm  ren 
dered  them.  And  so  it  has  been  from  that  day  to 
this,  and  the  constant  and  increasing  trade  between 
Sheffield  and  the  United  States  is  but  confirming 
the  good  relations  that  ought  to  exist,  and  do  exist, 
between  these  two  kindred  nations.  Now,  you  all 
know  very  well  that  'soft  words  butter  no  parsnips.' 
Mr.  Balfour  did  not  introduce  any  soft  words  into 
his  speech  that  he  made  for  me.  [Laughter.]  Mere 
expressions  of  friendly  sentiment  may  wither  with 
the  first  breath  of  hostility.  Actions  speak  a  great 
deal  louder  than  words,  and  it  is  the  actions  repre 
sented  in  the  continued  business,  the  continued  con 
tracts,  the  mutual  interest  that  are  made  the  subject 
of  daily  dealing  between  the  people  of  the  United 
Kingdom  and  the  people  of  the  United  States,  that 
are  binding  us  constantly  and  more  closely  together. 
The  tie  that  binds  us  to  Sheffield,  this  link  of  steel, 
this  iron-clad  union,  is  only  one  strand  in  the  great 
network  of  mutual  interest,  of  faithful  contract,  of 
reciprocal  benefits,  which  is  connecting  to-day  every 
part  of  the  United  States  with  every  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  We  have  heard  a  great  deal  about 


290  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  dangers  of  competition.  Mr.  Balfour  has  dis 
sipated  all  that  idea.  I  agree  with  him  that  the  dan 
gers  of  competition  are  of  but  little  account.  I  was 
reading  to-day  the  annual  book  of  one  of  the  great 
houses  of  Sheffield,  and  they  gave  a  theory  of  com 
petition  which  explains  the  whole  situation.  They 
said  they  were  not  afraid  of  American  competition, 
and  they  gave  the  best  reason  in  the  world  for  it, 
namely,  that  they  were  able  to  furnish  the  best  goods 
at  the  lowest  price.  [Laughter.]  And  if  Jessop 
and  Company  can  do  that — [laughter  and  cheers]— 
why,  they  are  welcome  to  all  the  markets  that  we 
can  open  to  them,  for,  according  to  my  judgment, 
that  is  the  true  solution  of  the  whole  problem  of 
competition,  that  the  firm  or  the  combination,  or 
the  nation,  that  can  furnish  the  best  goods  at  the 
lowest  prices  will  lead  in  every  market  of  the  world, 
and  ought  to. 

"Gentlemen,  I  had  a  good  deal  more  that  I  wanted 
to  say,  but  at  this  late  hour  I  do  not  propose  to 
trespass  further  upon  your  attention.  ["Go  on."] 
I  was  put  on  guard  by  the  Master  Cutler  before  I 
left  London,  and  after  arriving  at  his  house,  that 
there  was  danger  of  the  Cutlers'  Feast  being  stifled 
by  too  much  talk — [laughter] — and  he  allotted  fif 
teen  minutes  as  the  outside  time  for  the  limits  of 
any  speech.  Now,  I  gave  a  good  deal  of  my  time  to 
Mr.  Balfour.  [Loud  laughter.]  You  saw  how  much 
he  needed  it,  and  how  well  he  improved  it.  [Laugh 
ter.]  And,  as  I  cannot  hope  to  add  anything  that 
will  put  you  in  better  humor  than  he  has  put  you, 


THE  AMBASSADOK  291 

I  will  take  my  seat,  thanking  you  most  sincerely 
for  the  cordial  manner  in  which  you  have  received 
the  reference  to  my  country,  in  which  you  have  re 
ceived  my  humble  self — [cheers] — and  the  very 
trifling  words  which  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  ad 
dressing  to  you.  Let  me  close — I  can  only  close — 
by  repeating  the  very  observation  with  which  Mr. 
Balfour  concluded  his  speech,  that  after  all  that 
can  be  said  in  the  way  of  sentiment,  all  that  can  be 
manifested  in  the  way  of  affection,  after  all,  com 
munity  of  interest  is  the  tie  that  has  bound  these  two 
great  peoples  together  for  the  last  hundred  years, 
and,  as  I  hope,  will  continue  to  bind  them  together 
for  the  next  thousand  years.  [Cheers.]  I  am  sure 
that  the  echoes  of  this  meeting  will  cross  the  At 
lantic — I  think  they  have  already  crossed  the  At 
lantic —  [laughter] — and  while  they  will  not  dispel 
any  fears,  because  there  are  no  fears  there  to  dispel, 
they  will  carry  a  pleasant  conviction  with  them  that, 
after  all  that  has  been  surmised  and  guessed,  and 
falsely  surmised  and  guessed,  what  has  been  said 
sometimes  to  be  a  threat  of  rupture  between  the 
two  countries  is  really  likely  to  make  them  better 
friends  than  ever."  [Cheers.] 

At  the  annual  Lord  Mayor's  banquet,  at  the  Man 
sion  House,  on  November  10,  1900,  Mr.  Choate  was 
selected  to  respond  to  a  toast  to  the  "  foreign  rep 
resentatives,"  and  he  proceeded  to  set  forth,  his 
torically,  how  that  celebrated  street — Downing 
Street — where  the  Foreign  Office  is  located,  which 


292  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

so  often  echoes  to  the  tread  of  diplomats  from  all 
quarters  of  the  globe,  was  really  an  American 
street,  deriving  its  name  from  that  George  Down 
ing  who  dwelt  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  a  pupil 
in  the  first  school  organized  in  Massachusetts,  and 
graduated  from  Harvard  in  its  first  class,  in  1642. 
He  said: 

"I  esteem  very  highly  the  honor  which  has  been 
assigned  to  me,  most  unexpectedly,  of  responding  to 
this  toast  in  behalf  of  the  representatives  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Before  I  proceed  with  that 
subject,  I  must  express  my  gratitude  to  the  Lord 
Mayor,  and  especially  the  Prime  Minister,  for  the 
sympathetic,  the  earnest,  the  generous  manner  in 
which  they  have  spoken  of  the  United  States.  Lord 
Salisbury  has  stated  with  such  truth  and  simplicity 
and  earnestness  the  result  of  the  great  event  that 
has  taken  place  there,  that  I  shall  not  ask  a  moment 
of  your  time  to  discuss  the  subject.  I  must  con 
gratulate  him,  however,  that  this  incursion  of  his 
into  the  broad  arena  of  American  politics  was  made 
after  the  election  and  not  before,  for  if  he  had  had 
to  champion  the  cause  of  the  President  on  American 
soil,  I  am  afraid  that  even  his  great  powers  would 
hardly  have  been  equal  to  the  task.  [Laughter.] 
I  will  ask  him  how  he  would  like  to  have  traveled 
25,000  miles  in  sixty  days,  to  have  made  450  speeches 
ranging  from  five  to  thirty  a  day  before  audiences 
out  of  doors  and  indoors  ranging  from  five  to  fifty 
thousand?  [Laughter.]  I  say  no  more  than  what 


THE  AMBASSADOR  293 

every  man  of  sense  on  either  side  of  the  water  knows, 
when  I  say  that  those  two  great  peoples  do  most 
sincerely  value  the  friendship,  the  sympathy  and 
the  good  opinion  of  the  other;  and  will  you  allow 
me  to  dismiss  the  subject  by  expressing  my  belief 
that  so  long  as  President  McKinley  and  Lord  Salis 
bury  continue  to  hold  in  their  hands  the  reins  of 
Government  which  have  been  recently  recommitted 
to  them  both  [cheers]  by  those  two  great  peoples, 
there  is  no  danger  of  any  disturbances  of  the  hon 
orable  and  friendly  relations  between  them  which 
now  exist.  [Cheers.]  I  hardly  know  to  what  I  am 
to  attribute  the  honor  of  being  selected  to  speak 
for  all  the  foreign  representatives.  There  are  many 
of  them  that  have  been  here  much  longer  than  I, 
whose  faces  are  much  more  familiar  to  you.  Prob 
ably  I  owe  it  to  the  fact  that  I  am  the  only  Ambas 
sador  present,  possibly  to  the  more  significant  fact 
that  perhaps  I  know  more  about  Downing  Street, 
whose  pavement  we  tread  every  week  in  our  visits 
to  her  Majesty's  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  than 
any  one  of  them.  The  truth  is  that  Downing  Street, 
if  it  may  be  called  a  street  at  all — which  I  somewhat 
doubt — is  altogether  an  American  street,  and,  how 
ever  the  representatives  of  other  nations  may  feel, 
we  are  entirely  at  home  there.  [Laughter  and 
cheers.]  I  will  show  you  how  it  is  an  American 
street,  and  how  it  derives  its  origin  and  its  history 
from  the  earliest  periods  of  the  English  colonies 
in  America.  I  doubt  whether  many  within  sound 
of  my  voice  know  why  it  is  called  Downing  Street. 


294  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Now,  at  the  school  which  I  had  the  good  fortune  to 
attend,  I  am  afraid  to  say  how  many  years  ago,  in 
Massachusetts — the  best  colony  that  was  ever 
planted  under  the  English  flag,  and  planted  in  the 
best  way,  because  you  drove  them  out  to  shift  for 
themselves — at  that  school,  over  the  archway  of 
entrance,  there  were  inscribed  the  words  Schola 
publica  prima — the  first  school  organized  in  Massa 
chusetts — and  underneath  was  inscribed  the  name 
of  George  Downing,  the  first  pupil  of  that  school. 
Then  in  Harvard  College  we  find  him,  a  graduate 
of  that  institution  in  the  first  year  that  it  sent  any 
youths  into  the  world,  the  year  1642.  He  soon  found 
his  way  to  England.  He  became  the  chaplain  of 
Colonel  Oakey's  army  under  Cromwell,  and  he  soon 
began  to  display  the  most  extraordinary  faculties 
in  the  art  of  diplomacy  of  any  man  of  his  day.  It 
was  the  old  diplomacy.  [Laughter.]  It  was  not 
anything  like  the  new  diplomacy  that  Lord  Salis 
bury  and  the  Foreign  Ministers  here  present  prac 
tice.  It  was  the  old  kind.  Downing  developed  a  won 
derful  mastery  of  the  art  of  hoodwinking,  in  which 
that  kind  of  diplomacy  chiefly  consisted.  In  the 
first  place  he  hoodwinked  Cromwell  himself,  which 
showed  he  was  a  very  astute  young  man  [laughter], 
and  persuaded  him  to  send  him  as  Ambassador  to 
The  Hague.  Well,  after  the  Protector  died,  he  tried 
his  arts  upon  the  Rump,  and  he  hoodwinked  the 
Bump,  and  they  reappointed  him  Ambassador  to 
The  Hague.  And  when  the  restoration  came,  he 
practiced  his  wily  arts  upon  the  merry  Monarch, 


THE  AMBASSADOR  295 

and  induced  him  to  send  him  again  as  Ambassador 
to  The  Hague.  Three  great  triumphs  in  diplomacy 
— all  by  one  man.  In  those  days,  when  the  King 
shuffled  his  cards — and  I  believe  he  shuffled  them 
very  often — changes  of  office  took  place  as  if  by 
magic,  and  he  who  had  been  in  the  Foreign  Office 
was  transferred  to  the  War  Office,  and  he  who  had 
been  in  the  Board  of  Works  was  transferred  to  the 
Home  Office  [laughter],  with  the  same  happy  facil 
ity  with  which  those  changes  now  take  place  [laugh 
ter],  by  the  mere  nod  of  the  Prime  Minister. 
[Laughter.]  Downing  seems  to  have  had  oppor 
tunities  which  none  of  her  Majesty's  present  Minis 
ters  enjoy — he  made  lots  of  money,  and,  finally, 
he  induced  the  merry  Monarch  to  grant  him  a  great 
tract  of  land  at  Westminister  provided — or  so  the 
grant  ran — that  the  houses  to  be  built  upon  the 
premises  so  near  to  the  Royal  Palace,  shall  be  hand 
some  and  graceful.  If  you  will  stand  at  the  mouth 
— shall  I  call  it  the  mouth  f — of  Downing  Street,  and 
gaze  across  the  way  to  Whitehall,  where  Charles  in 
his  merry  moods  was  always  banqueting  and  look 
ing  out  of  the  window,  you  will  appreciate  the  rea 
son  of  this  proviso.  So  he  built  him  a  house,  pos 
sibly  in  Whitehall,  and  he  built  more  mansions  be 
tween  there  and  Westminster  Abbey,  and  the  old  an 
nals  of  the  time  describe  those  houses  as  "pleasant 
mansions,"  having  a  back  front  upon  St.  James's 
Park — the  exact  description  of  the  Foreign  Office 
to-day.  For  it  also  has  a  back  fronting  on  St. 
James's  Park,  and  really  it  is  the  most  important 


296  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

side,  because  that  is  where  her  Majesty's  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs  always  finds  his  way  in  and 
out,  with  a  private  key  by  the  back  front  door.  In 
the  natural  course  of  things  Downing  would  have 
been  haled  to  Tyburn  and  hanged  by  the  neck  until 
dead,  but  he  won  his  way  into  the  favor  of  King 
Charles,  by  claiming  that  the  king  must  forgive  his 
past  backslidings  because  of  the  vicious  principles 
that  he  had  sucked  in  in  his  early  New  England 
education.  Finally  he  died,  and  by  his  will  he  de 
vised  his  mansion  and  estates  and  farm  at  West 
minster  to  his  children,  and  now  they  are  long  since 
gone,  leaving  no  rack  behind  except  a  little  bit  of 
ground  100  yards  long  and  twenty  yards  wide, 
sometimes  narrowing  to  ten,  which  bears  still  his 
illustrious  name.  It  is  the  smallest,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  greatest,  street  in  the  world,  because  it  lies 
at  the  hub  of  the  gigantic  wheel  which  encircles  the 
globe  under  the  name  of  the  British  Empire.  It  is 
all  American.  I  have  shown  you  why  it  is  called 
Downing  Street.  But  why,  Lord  Salisbury,  is  it 
called  a  street!  I  have  always  thought  that  a  street 
was  a  way  through  from  one  place  to  some  other 
place.  This  does  not  come  within  that  definition. 
I  have  heard  it  called  a  cul  de  sac — that  has  no  out 
let,  except  at  one  end — a  place  where  you  can  get 
in  but  cannot  get  out.  How,  however,  other  nations 
may  find  it,  we  Americans,  by  reason  of  our  pre 
scriptive  rights  in  the  premises,  find  it  to  be  a  thor 
oughfare.  [Laughter.]  We  feel  entirely  at  home 
in  it.  Our  feet  are  on  our  native  heath.  We  can 


"I  DO  ENJOY  THE   SOCIETY  OF   LIONS.     I'M   SOMETHING   OF   A 

LION  MYSELF" 


THE  AMBASSADOE  297 

go  in  and  go  out,  and  give  and  take  on  equal  terms. 
And  now  I  will  conclude  with  one  word,  perhaps  it 
is  the  only  proper  word  I  ought  to  have  said.  On 
behalf  of  the  entire  Diplomatic  Corps,  whom  I  am 
happy  here  to  represent,  words  would  fail  me  to 
express  the  delight  which  we  have  found  up  to  this 
hour  in  our  intercourse  with  Lord  Salisbury,  and  the 
very  great  regret  we  feel  that  we  shall  see  his  face 
in  the  Foreign  Office  no  more.  I  hope,  in  his  higher 
and  grander  station,  he  will  not  wholly  ignore  us. 
I  hope  he  will  rather  imitate  the  example  of  the 
retired  tallowchandler  who,  parting  with  a  great 
business  which  he  had  followed  with  eminent  suc 
cess  and  with  great  personal  delight,  wiped  his  eyes 
as  he  was  leaving  the  premises  and  promised  that 
on  melting  days  he  would,  in  spirit,  always  be  ready 
to  be  with  them.  [Laughter.]  I  believe — I  know — 
that  a  good  deal  of  the  friendly  relations  which  exist 
between  all  the  great  nations  of  the  earth  that  are 
represented  at  this  Court  of  Great  Britain,  and  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  of  the  world,  have  in  large 
measure  depended  upon  the  just  and  fair  spirit,  the 
patience  and  the  forbearance,  the  hearty  good-will 
and  the  fairness  which  he  has  manifested  towards 
us,  and  his  considerate  regard  for  the  rights  of  all 
other  nations,  while  maintaining  with  the  utmost 
tenacity  and  stoutness  the  rights  of  his  own." 
[Cheers.] 

One  of  the  most  significant  of  the  many  honors 
bestowed  on  Mr,  Choate  was  that  conferred  by 


298  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

Scotchmen  who,  on  March  22,  1904,  presented  him 
with  the  Freedom  of  Edinburgh.  This  was,  indeed, 
a  high  tribute  to  his  personal  worth,  and  the  clearest 
evidence  of  respect  and  regard.  Nothing  could  be 
more  felicitous  and,  indeed,  unusual  in  character,  be 
cause  of  its  somewhat  jocular  and  familiar  tone,  than 
his  delightful  speech  of  acceptance.  It  was  in  strik 
ing  contrast  with  the  stilted,  and  often  pompous, 
expressions  of  the  conventional  acknowledgment  of 
this  honor. 

"My  Lord  Provost,  my  Lords,  Ladies  and  Gen 
tlemen: — How  can  I  find  any  words  in  which  fitly 
to  reply  to  the  address  of  welcome,  I  might  well  say 
of  adulation,  with  which  the  Lord  Provost  has  pre 
sented  me  to  you?  I  would  put  aside  all  his  per 
sonal  allusions,  because,  after  all,  I  cannot  but 
recognize  and  feel  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart 
that  this  is  not  so  much  a  personal  tribute  as  a  dem 
onstration  of  the  affection  and  respect  which  the 
people  of  Edinburgh  feel,  and  which  its  Government, 
as  representing  them  feel,  for  the  great  Eepublic 
which  I  have  for  the  moment  the  honor  to  represent, 
[Applause.]  Sir,  as  you  have  said,  in  what  I  feel 
to  be  too  flattering  language,  what  you  think  of  me, 
I  should  like  to  say  in  literal  truth  what  I  think 
of  Edinburgh.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  But  it 
would  be  impossible  to  add  to  the  praises  which 
poets,  historians,  orators,  philosophers  have  lav 
ished  upon  this  ancient  and  illustrious  city  now  for 
many  ages.  If  cities  are  to  be  measured,  like  stars, 


THE  AMBASSADOE  299 

by  the  light  they  give,  then  this  splendid  city  of 
yours  must  ever  hold  a  place  of  the  very  first  magni 
tude.  Astronomers  tell  us,  in  respect  to  fixed  stars, 
and  all  other  stars,  that  the  light  that  comes  to  us 
from  some  of  them  has  been  on  its  way  for  hun 
dreds,  for  thousands,  for  tens  of  thousands  of  years. 
I  find  it  very  hard  to  believe  it,  but  it  is  absolutely 
mathematical  truth.  [Laughter.]  So,  they  say,  if  a 
star  were  extinguished  and  blotted  out,  if  it  ceased 
entirely  to  be,  and  emitted  no  light  for  the  future, 
the  world  would  still  be  enlightened  by  the  rays  it 
has  already  shed  for  these  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  years.  And  so  I  believe  it  would  be  with  Edin 
burgh.  If  the  city,  its  buildings,  its  galleries,  its 
museums,  its  monuments  were  swallowed  up  by  the 
sea,  or  if  an  earthquake  should  absorb  your  famous 
Capitol  hill,  if  Arthur's  Seat  itself  should  disappear, 
the  light  that  has  already  been  shed  by  Edinburgh 
upon  the  world  would  go  traveling  and  enlightening 
future  ages,  so  that  this  city  would  be  as  familiar  to 
them  a  thousand  years  hence  as  it  is  to  the  people 
of  the  world  to-day.  [Applause.]  To  a  young  Amer 
ican,  Edinburgh  is  always  familiar  long  before  he 
crosses  the  Atlantic.  What  your  historians  and 
orators  and  poets  and  philosophers,  and  masters 
of  England  have  said  about  her  in  the  last  hundred 
or  two  hundred  years,  has  been  drunk  in  by  the 
children,  the  boys  and  the  girls,  and  the  men  and 
the  women  of  America;  and  the  poems  of  Burns 
and  of  Scott — [applause] — and  Scott's  masterly 
fictions,  have  shed  light  and  luster  upon  the  history 


300  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

and  the  traditions  and  the  life  of  this  ancient  city, 
which  have  been  deeply  impressed  upon  the  hearts 
of  all  Americans,  so  that  their  footsteps  turn  almost 
uniformly  to  Edinburgh  when  they  touch  the  British 
Islands — they  cannot  leave  them  without  seeing 
Edinburgh,  and  as  much  of  the  rest  of  Scotland  as 
it  is  possible  for  them  to  do.  [Applause.]  Judging 
from  my  own  experience,  when  they  reach  this  capi 
tal  they  find  the  city  far  more  beautiful  than  is  to 
be  found  in  the  whole  American  Continent,  and,  so 
far  as  I  have  explored  other  Continents,  not  rivaled 
or  excelled  by  any  in  them.  [Applause.] 

"  You  have  spoken,  sir,  of  the  sympathy  and  fellow 
feeling  that  exists  between  the  two  countries.  I 
believe  it  is  because  they  rest  for  their  foundation 
upon  principles  and  interests  equally  dear  to  both, 
and  which  lie  at  the  very  root  of  civilization  in 
England,  in  Scotland,  and  in  the  United  States.  I 
have  heard  an  eminent  divine,  within  a  very  few 
hours,  say  that  religion  and  liberty  were  the  great 
interests  of  Scotland,  and  I  have  heard  another  add 
to  it  that  the  staple  everyday  interest  of  Scotland 
is  education.  Now,  in  these  three  interests,  in  these 
three  principles,  lie  the  foundation  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  as  well  as  of  the  kingdom  of 
Great  Britain.  The  men  who  listened  to  the  preach 
ing  of  John  Knox,  those  who  hung  upon  the  lips  of 
Hugh  Latimer  in  London,  were  very  near  of  kith 
and  kin  to  the  pilgrim  fathers  who  landed  at 
Plymouth  and  to  the  Puritans  that  followed  them. 
[Applause.]  Education  was  their  first  enterprise, 


THE  AMBASSADOR  301 

but  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  and 
establishing  the  religion  which  they  carried  with 
them — ["hear!  hear!"] — and,  as  their  first  thought, 
when  they  had  found  shelter  for  themselves  in  the 
wilderness  was  to  establish  a  common  school  for 
their  children,  from  that  day  to  this  they  have  cul 
tivated  that  as  the  essential  foundation  upon  which 
both  their  religion  and  their  liberties  depend.  And 
now,  you  behold  a  great  nation,  with  fifteen  millions 
of  children  in  its  public  schools  and  academies,  all 
entitled  to,  and  receiving,  an  education  at  the  expense 
of  the  State  up  to  the  point  where  each  boy  and 
each  girl  is  able  to  take  care  of  itself.  And  my 
impression  is  that  the  same  enthusiasm,  the  same 
zeal  for  education  exists  in  Scotland,  and  especially 
in  the  city  of  Edinburgh.  I  have  been  a  great  deal 
in  Scotland,  in  the  last  five  years  of  my  life  in  Great 
Britain,  and  I  have  been  always  impressed  with  the 
similarity  of  character  and  conduct  between  the 
people  of  this  ancient  Kingdom  and  the  people  of 
my  own  native  New  England.  The  same  habits  of 
life,  the  same  principles  of  honor,  of  frugality,  of 
industry,  pervade  both  these  peoples.  And  what 
have  they  not  accomplished  for  my  own  beloved 
country?  In  every  great  and  good  work  that  has 
been  carried  on  there,  the  hand  of  those  founders, 
the  influence  that  they  exerted,  the  power  that  they 
put  forth— call  it  Puritan  if  you  will,  call  it  what 
you  will — the  power  of  religion,  of  justice  and  of 
education  has  gone  before  them,  and  has  reached 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  converted  the 


302  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

whole  nation  into  one  land  of  comfort,  of  plenty 
and  of  dignity.    [Loud  applause.] 

"I  am  sorry  that  the  Lord  Provost  has  ended  his 
remarks  without  instructing  me  upon  the  duties 
and  the  responsibilities  that  have  been  conferred 
upon  me  by  this  ticket,  this  certificate  which  this 
beautiful  casket  incloses.  I  really  hardly  know 
whether  my  duties  as  the  youngest  burgess  of  the 
city  of  Edinburgh  begin  now  and  continue  during 
the  rest  of  my  life,  or  whether  they  are  curtailed 
and  limited  by  the  hours  of  this  setting  sun.  I 
suppose  that  if  Edinburgh  should  be  invaded  by 
foreign  Powers,  I  should  be  subject  to  be  called 
into  its  service  to  defend  its  walls — ["hear,  hear," 
and  laughter] — or  to  be  one  of  those  men  that  make 
the  walls  of  a  city  like  this,  and  I  am  sure  I  should 
respond  very  gladly  to  the  call.  [Applause.]  If, 
sir,  by  virtue  of  this  appointment,  and  the  privileges 
it  has  conferred  upon  me,  I  might  aspire  some  day 
to  wear  these  robes  [turning  to  the  Lord  Provost], 
I  am  sure  you  would  not  be  quite  so  ready  to  confer 
this  distinction  upon  strangers  and  especially  upon 
an  American,  as  you  know  how  inquisitive  and 
acquisitive  Americans  are.  [Laughter.]  I  am  sure 
you  would  not  have  conferred  it  with  such  grace 
and  facility  if  you  had  suspected  that  I  cherish  an 
ambition  like  that.  [Laughter.]  But,  sir,  I  know 
of  no  greater  honor  in  Edinburgh.  The  Lord 
Provost  represents  the  entire  city  ["hear,  hear"] 
— and  if,  from  becoming  a  burgess,  I  could  rise 
through  these  ranks  of  ermine  and  of  scarlet — 


THE  AMBASSADOR  303 

[laughter] — to  the  place  you,  my  Lord  Provost, 
occupy,  I  should  consider  that  this  certificate  had 
not  been  conferred  in  vain.  [Laughter.]  Well, 
then,  I  belong  to  the  ancient  and  honored  profession 
of  the  law,  and  I  understand  that  its  advocates 
enjoy  priceless  privileges  in  this  ancient  city- 
wealth,  honor,  applause,  and,  above  all,  leisure — 
[laughter] — the  most  priceless  blessing  of  all— 
[laughter] — and  nothing  would  more  delight  me 
when  discharged  from  the  arduous  duties  of  an 
Ambassador  than  to  come  and  settle  in  this  city 
to  which  I  now  belong — [applause] — to  take  my 
place  at  her  ancient  Bar — not  with  the  idea  of 
supplanting  any  of  her  eminent  judges,  for  I 
believe  I  have  already  passed  the  allotted  age  for 
that — but  at  the  Bar  I  should  like  to  try  for  twenty 
or  thirty  years — [laughter] — what  could  be  done  in 
competition  with  those  gentlemen  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  within  the  last  week.  I  believe 
there  is  a  freemasonry  in  that  profession,  but  surely 
this  certificate  in  that  silver  casket  in  that  velvet 
box  would  carry  me  over  all  barriers.  [Laughter 
and  applause.]  I  asked  the  Lord  Provost  how  long 
I  should  speak;  I  asked  him  what  I  should  speak 
about.  He  answered  both  questions  by  telling  me 
I  might  speak  "  about  fifteen  minutes. "  I  have 
fulfilled  that  service.  I  have  spoken  to  you 
seriously  of  my  immense  appreciation  of  this  com 
pliment  which  has  been  done  me.  When  I  recall 
the  names  of  the  burgesses  who  have  signed  this 
roll  before  me,  when  I  remember  that  of  all  my 


304  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

countrymen,  of  eighty  millions  of  people,  only  one 
has  enjoyed  this  honor  before  me,  and  that  General 
Grant — Ulysses  S.  Grant,  "Unconditional  Sur 
render  "  Grant,  who  saved  his  country  in  the  most 
trying  crisis  that  has  come  upon  it  since  the  foun 
dation  of  the  Republic — I  am  overwhelmed  with  a 
sense  of  my  own  unworthiness  to  follow  in  his  steps, 
and  to  find  a  place  upon  that  roll.  How  shall  I 
show  my  fitness,  my  Lord  Provost,  for  the  honor 
conferred  upon  me?  I  think  I  can  best  do  it  when 
I  leave  this  Council  Chamber,  sacred  in  the  annals 
of  the  civil  history  of  Edinburgh,  with  this  casket 
under  my  arm;  and  when  I  am  recalled  by  my 
grateful  or  ungrateful  country,  I  shall  appear 
among  my  own  fellow-citizens  with  it  under  my 
arm,  and  as  I  make  a  tour  of  the  United  States  I 
shall  sing  the  praises  of  Scotland,  and  of  Edin 
burgh  and  its  Lord  Provost,  wherever  I  go." 
[Loud  applause.] 

On  June  13,  1901,  Sir  John  Tenniel,  the  famous 
Punch  cartoonist,  was  honored  by  individuals  dis 
tinguished  in  Literature  and  Art  with  a  public 
dinner  to  celebrate  his  fiftieth  anniversary  on  the 
staff  of  Punch.  Mr.  Augustine  Birrell,  the  author 
of  the  charming  essays  published  under  the  title 
Obiter  Dicta,  was  one  of  those  to  be  called  on  to 
respond  to  the  toast  to  "Literature  and  Art."  The 
toast  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Choate  in  his  most 
genial  and  characteristic  way,  rendering  the  task 
of  those  who  were  to  follow  him  exceedingly  difficult. 


THE  AMBASSADOR  305 

He  said  that  Sir  John  TenniePs  modesty  was 
only  equaled  by  his  merit  [cheers],  and  the  un 
utterable  emotion  which  he  had  exhibited  to  them, 
he  was  sure,  had  appealed  to  their  hearts  much 
more  effectively  than  if  he  could  have  spoken 
at  learned  length  and  lumbering  sound.  [Cheers.] 
He  rose  not  to  make  a  speech,  but  to  pro 
voke  speeches  from  two  other  unfortunate 
gentlemen.  [Laughter.]  The  pleasant  duty  had 
been  intrusted  to  him  of  proposing  the  toast  of  art 
and  literature,  at  whose  common  shrine  Sir  John 
Tenniel  had  spent  the  best  energies  of  his  life  for 
the  last  fifty  years,  and  whose  devotees  were  equally 
his  admirers  the  world  over.  [Cheers.]  The  toast 
of  "  Literature "  would  be  responded  to  by  Mr. 
Augustine  Birrell,  who  professed  to  desire  that 
whatever  he  might  say  might  pass  as  mere  obiter 
dicta,  although  his  judgments  on  literature  were 
always  accepted  as  final.  [Cheers  and  laughter.] 
They  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Briton 
Riviere,  the  learned  Academician,  who  would  re 
spond  to  "Art,"  for  consenting  at  the  last  moment 
to  take  the  place  of  the  distinguished  President 
of  the  Royal  Academy,  Sir  E.  Poynter,  who  was 
detained  by  illness.  Now  he  might  sit  down,  but 
he  was  unwilling  to  do  so  [cheers  and  laughter], 
for  he  wished  to  express  in  a  few  words  his  ad 
miration  for  the  genius  of  their  distinguished  guest, 
a  genius  which  belonged  to  no  single  continent,  and 
could  be  appropriated  by  no  single  nation.  [Cheers.] 
Wherever  the  English  language  was  spoken,  wher- 


306  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

ever  men  and  women  gathered  together  who  were 
interested,  either  as  friends  or  foes,  in  what  was 
going  on  in  England  and  the  British  Empire,  the 
name  of  Sir  John  Tenniel  was  a  household  word 
and  his  work  a  cherished  possession.  [Cheers.] 
No  wonder  that  there  was  to  be  found  on  the 
committee  the  names  of  so  many  of  the  leading 
statesmen,  scholars,  artists  and  gentlemen  of  Eng 
land.  Especially  it  was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  statesmen  bowed  at  his  shrine,  for  had  he  not,  for 
the  last  fifty  years,  been  keeping  a  school  for  states 
men?  [Laughter.]  It  was  a  school  of  morals,  vir 
tues,  manners,  discipline,  politics  and  principle.  He 
had  heard  of  distinguished  statesmen  who  never  read 
the  newspaper.  [Mr.  Balfour,  amid  laughter,  ex 
pressed  dissent.]  Their  learned  chairman  said  that 
he  had  never  heard  of  such  a  statesman.  [Loud 
laughter.]  When  he  said  that,  what  a  tribute  he 
paid  to  the  guest  of  the  evening,  and  to  the  weekly 
journal  in  which  his  work  had  figured  for  the  last 
fifty  years !  For  now  they  saw  where  one  who  never 
read  the  daily  journals  gathered  the  inspiration, 
the  knowledge,  the  sympathy,  the  information  and 
the  principles  which  enabled  him  not  only  to  lead 
the  House  of  Commons,  but  to  lead  victoriously 
the  public  opinion  of  England.  [Cheers  and  laugh 
ter.]  No  daily  journal  might  cross  his  threshold, 
but  they  knew  now  why  he  had  an  electric  light  at 
the  head  of  his  bed,  what  was  the  paper  by  which 
he  put  himself  to  sleep.  [Laughter.]  He  really 
thought  Sir  John  had  not  realized  until  he  came 


THE  AMBASSADOR  307 

there  how  much  he  had  been  doing  for  England 
down  to  that  day.  [Cheers  and  laughter.]  Let 
them  think  what  he  had  done  for  the  last  fifty  years. 
In  those  fifty  volumes  were  contained  the  biography 
of  the  famous  men  in  the  world,  and  it  was  inter 
esting  to  see  how  from  decade  to  decade  he  had 
cultivated  and  developed  the  statesmen  whom  he 
had  taken  in  hand  in  budding  youth  and  led  on  to 
triumph  and  fame.  It  was  said  on  good  Biblical 
authority  that  the  hairs  of  a  statesman's  head  are 
all  numbered.  [Laughter.]  Nobody  knew  it  better 
than  Sir  John  Tenniel,  who  took  a  blushing,  rosy- 
cheeked  ambitious  youth  by  the  hand  when  he  got 
up  to  make  his  maiden  speech  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  followed  him  from  year  to  year, 
and  decade  to  decade,  so  that  by  studying  his 
successive  sketches  you  might  tell  exactly  how  those 
numbered  hairs  had  fallen  away,  and  how  the  great 
dome  of  thought  and  experience  and  wisdom  stood 
up  to  make  up  for  the  loss.  [Cheers  and  laughter.] 
How  much  he  had  done  for  all  the  great  men  of 
England!  The  Chairman's  great  national  poet 
had  said — 

"  Wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursels  as  ithers  see  us." 

That  was  exactly  the  power  that  was  his.  He  had 
enabled  every  great  man  of  England,  after  he  had 
achieved  his  task — perhaps  it  was  a  great  speech, 
a  great  battle,  or  perhaps  a  great  blunder  [laugh- 


308  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

ter] — to  take  up  Punch  and  see  himself  exactly  as 
others  saw  him.  He  had  also  taught  the  great  men 
of  England  in  the  last  half  century  that  there  was 
but  one  step  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous.  It 
was  most  interesting  to  judge  Sir  John's  own  career 
in  his  own  published  illustrations.  Was  he  right  in 
thinking  that  he  discovered  in  them,  in  constantly 
increasing  degree,  a  gentleness,  kindness  and 
tenderness  from  year  to  year,  and  generation  to 
generation,  exhibited  by  him  in  those  wonderful 
pages?  Was  he  right  in  believing  that  time,  which 
had  dealt  so  generously  with  him,  had  only  mel 
lowed  and  softened  him,  so  that  to-day,  when  he 
laid  down  his  pencil,  he  was  dreaded  by  none  and 
absolutely  and  devotedly  loved  by  all!  Was  he  right 
also  in  thinking  from  the  evidence  of  his  hand  that 
England  herself  had  in  the  last  half  century  mel 
lowed  with  him,  and  that  she  had  grown  very  much 
less  alone  and  aloof  than  she  appeared  to  the  rest 
of  the  world  half  a  century  ago?  It  seemed  to 
him  that  reflected  from  these  cartoons  in  Punch 
there  was  exhibited  a  growing  and  always  more 
cordial  and  amiable  mood  of  England  in  her  for 
eign  relations  as  generation  succeeded  generation. 
[Cheers.]  Could  he  doubt  that  that  was  exhibited 
particularly  towards  his  own  beloved  country  [re 
newed  cheers],  whose  people  were  of  one  blood  and 
stock  with  theirs?  If  there  was  any  doubt  of  it  he 
would  refer  to  two  of  Sir  John's  illustrations,  one 
in  which  he  represented  Britannia  shedding  peni 
tential  tears  over  the  bloody  corpse  of  Lincoln 


THE  AMBASSADOR  309 

[cheers],  and  again  one  in  which  she  was  bending 
in  loving  sympathy  over  the  bier  of  the  murdered 
Garfield.  [Cheers.]  He  agreed  with  their  Chair 
man  that  all  their  guest's  work  was  not  included 
within  the  covers  of  Punch.  There  was  some  that  he 
was  more  fond  of — namely,  the  illustrations  of  the 
works  of  Lewis  Carroll,  whom  he  had  helped  to 
make  immortal.  He  believed  that  the  illustrations 
to  Alice  in  Wonderland  and  Alice  through  the 
Looking  Glass  were  a  sort  of  pastime  to  their  guest, 
and  that  in  them  he  was  only  studying  character  for 
the  purpose  more  successfully  of  illustrating  the 
characters  and  tendencies  of  public  men.  Take  the 
white  rabbit,  for  instance.  [Laughter.]  What 
statesman,  scholar,  poet  or  soldier  of  England  had 
a  fame  equal  to  that  which  he  had  given  to  the 
white  rabbit?  And  would  it  be  possible  to  go 
through  the  House  of  Lords  or  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  without  finding  some  reflection  of  that 
great  character?  [Laughter.]  The  gentlemen  of 
England  loved  to  sit  upon  benches  great  and  small. 
What  lessons  did  they  not  learn  from  the  Cater 
pillar?  [Laughter.]  And  then  the  Dodo,  and  the 
Mock  Turtle,  and  the  Cheshire  Cat  [laughter],  and 
the  Jabberwock.  [Laughter.]  They  were  reflected 
certainly  in  every  Legislative  Assembly  where  the 
English  language  was  spoken,  and  traces  of  them 
were  even  to  be  found  in  the  Courts  of  Justice. 
[Laughter.]  And  as  to  the  March  Hare.  [Laugh 
ter.]  He  did  not  know  whether  they  found  more 
symptoms  of  him  in  the  pulpit  or  at  the  Bar. 


310  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

[Laughter.]  The  beauty  of  these  books  and  of  the 
illustrations  was  that  everybody  could  find  his  own 
picture  if  he  looked  for  it.  [Laughter.]  These 
animals  had  been  made  so  human  by  the  pen  of 
Carroll  and  the  pencil  of  Tenniel  that  they  felt  that 
they  were  the  missing  links  between  them  and  the 
inferior  creation  that  they  read  of.  [Laughter.]  He 
was  looking  at  Alice  through  the  Looking  Glass  that 
afternoon,  and  found  what  he  recognized  as  his  own 
portrait  painted  by  Tenniel.  The  description  was 
of  the  condition  of  an  Ambassador  burdened  by 
these  great  post-prandial  functions.  [Laughter.] 

'You  are  old/  said  the  youth,  'and  your  jaws  are  too 
weak 

For  anything  tougher  than  suet; 

Yet  you  finished  the  goose,  with  the  bones  and  the  beak. 

Pray,  how  did  you  manage  to  do  it?' 
"  'In  my  youth/  said  his  father,  'I  took  to  the  law, 

And  argued  each  case  with  my  wife, 

And  the  muscular  strength  which  it  gave  to  my  jaw 

Has  lasted  the  rest  of  my  life.'  " 
[Loud  laughter.] 

The  Royal  Society  is  too  august  a  body  to 
be  treated  flippantly.  The  significant  appendage 
F.  E.  S.  to  the  name  of  an  individual  indicates  at 
tainment  to  no  ordinary  distinction  in  the  ranks  of 
scientists.  The  gatherings  of  the  Society  are  char 
acterized  by  deep  seriousness  and  awesome  dignity, 
and  its  proceedings  are  far  removed  from  anything 
so  undignified  as  to  provoke  a  smile.  It  is  not  dim*- 


THE  AMBASSADOE  311 

cult  to  realize  that  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
at  the  annual  dinner,  the  time-honored  toast  to  the 
Society  is  proposed  by  a  learned  savant  in  impres 
sive  terms,  extolling  its  discoveries  in  the  past,  and 
prophesying  greater  achievements  in  the  future. 
But  Mr.  Choate,  not  being  a  savant,  and  not  even 
a  scientist,  was  simply  and  unaffectedly  himself, 
and  therefore  turned  their  somewhat  funereal  fes 
tivity  into  a  genuine  "flow  of  soul,"  to  the  extent 
even,  that  the  F.  E.  S.'s  surprised  themselves  with 
their  own  laughter.  This  is  the  way  he  did  it. 

"The  duty  has  been  imposed  upon  me  of  pro 
posing  the  toast  of  that  austere  and  venerable  body, 
the  Eoyal  Society.  I  hope  you  will  allow  me  to  do 
this  as  briefly  as  I  may,  although  I  am  well  aware 
that  an  after-dinner  speech  which  is  very  short  to 
him  who  makes  it  is  often  very  long  to  those  who 
have  to  listen  to  it.  [Laughter.]  A  man  rises  and 
talks  and  talks,  and  sits  down  after  five  minutes; 
and  his  audience  maliciously  time  him  by  the  clock 
at  fifteen  minutes.  [Laughter.]  I  think  that  would 
be  one  of  the  most  interesting  philosophic  questions 
which  this  august  body  has  had  to  consider  since 
King  Charles  came  among  you  as  a  Fellow  and 
propounded  some  of  his  conundrums.  [Laughter.] 
I  can  only  give  you,  by  way  of  illustration,  one  way 
of  answering  the  question,  and  that  is  by  resorting 
to  what  is,  I  suspect,  already  a  familiar  conundrum. 
Why  is  married  life  longer  to  wives  than  to  hus 
bands!  [Laughter.]  The  obvious  answer  is  that 


312  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

it  is  not;  but  it  seems  longer.  [Laughter.]  Now, 
this  toast  is  a  very  difficult  one  to  propose  in  any 
proper  terms,  and  with  commendable  and  reason 
able  brevity,  because  the  subject  is  so  vast.  What 
shall  I  reject?  I  might  enter  into  an  exposition  of 
the  quality  and  character  of  the  present  membership 
of  the  Society — a  subject  so  familiar  and  dear  to 
you  all.  [Laughter.]  But  it  would  take  me  until 
to-morrow  morning  to  begin  to  approach  it.  I 
might  speak  of  that  long  list  of  discoveries  that  have 
made  the  name  of  the  Eoyal  Society  immortal 
throughout  the  world.  But  that  topic,  too,  is  almost 
endless.  I  might  speak  of  the  laws,  the  new  law 
of  nature  which,  by  means  of  your  researches,  this 
Society  has  imposed  upon  all  mankind  for  all  time. 
[Laughter.]  Ideas  rule  the  world;  but  some,  as  in 
politics,  in  law  and  in  society,  are  transient  and 
temporary  laws.  But  the  laws  that  result  from  the 
researches  of  this  Society  are  eternal.  There  is, 
therefore,  a  great  difficulty  in  selecting  by  elimina 
tion  some  point  of  view  in  which  I  may  present  the 
work  of  this  Society  for  consideration;  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  I  should  do  best  by  proposing 
one  single  point,  and  that  is  the  wonderful  efficiency 
and  vitality  that  the  work  of  this  Society  has  ac 
quired  in  these  modern  days,  in  comparison  with 
what  prevailed  in  the  earlier  periods  of  the  Society's 
history.  ['  ' Hear !  Hear ! "]  In  that  connection  I 
shall  have  to  treat  of  a  scientific  subject — the  con 
traction  of  the  crust  of  the  globe.  [Laughter.]  It 
is  a  little  doubtful  what  the  scope  and  work  of  this 


THE  AMBASSADOR  313 

Society  does  embrace;  but  I  believe  that  the  con 
traction  of  the  crust  of  the  globe  comes  fairly  within 
it.  I  do  not  mean  that  physical  contraction  of  which 
I  have  been  discussing  the  history  with  your  Presi 
dent.  He  tells  me  that  there  has  been  a  wonderful 
diminution  in  the  size  of  the  globe  in  that  respect. 
He  says  that  it  was  once  a  much  vaster  sphere  than 
it  is  now ;  and  he  says — I  suspect  with  the  partiality 
of  the  specialist — that  it  was  once  largely  nebulous. 
[Laughter.]  But  I  do  not  refer  to  that.  I  refer 
to  the  contraction  of  the  crust  of  the  globe  which 
nas  been  made  by  the  ideas  which  have  emanated  in 
the  last  two  hundred  years  from  this  body  and  from 
bodies  like  this,  and  which  have  made  the  earth 
vastly  inferior  in  size  to  what  it  was  before.  My 
friend  Lord  Kelvin,  for  instance,  has  had  a  very 
remarkable  hand  in  bringing  the  nations,  and  diverse 
parts  and  peoples  of  the  earth,  much  nearer  to 
gether.  [Cheers.]  It  is  inconceivable  how  slowly 
in  ancient  times,  before  steam  and  electricity  and 
Lord  Kelvin  and  his  associates  came  upon  the  scene 
—how  slowly  ideas  traveled  round  the  globe.  Let 
me  give  you  an  instance  of  it.  The  Copernican 
theory  of  the  universe  was  propounded  to  the  world, 
I  believe,  about  the  year  1540.  Now  I  should  not 
believe  it  if  I  did  not  have  it  upon  the  word  of  one 
of  the  wisest  and  most  learned  men  in  America— 
the  President  of  Columbia  College — but  it  was  as 
late  as  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
when  the  President  and  professors  of  Yale  College 
succeeded  in  making  the  people  of  Connecticut  for 


314  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  first  time  accept  the  Copernican  theory. 
[Laughter.]  And  as  late  as  1754 — that  is,  210 
years  after  the  theory  was  propounded — at  the  first 
session  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  one  of  the 
students  took  for  his  thesis  the  proposition  that 
the  earth  works  round  the  sun,  and  he  established 
it  by  copious  mathematical  demonstrations,  and 
reference  to  the  laws  of  gravity.  [Laughter.]  That 
was  what  happened  before  steam  and  electricity  and 
the  distinguished  members  of  the  Society  had  their 
way.  Now  you  start  an  idea  in  London  to-day  and 
it  goes  with  unerring  velocity  round  the  world  in 
twenty-four  hours,  and  if  you  recognize  it  when 
it  gets  back  to-morrow  morning  you  are  lucky. 
[Cheers  and  laughter.]  Some  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  this  Society  discovers  or  extorts — I  do  not 
know  exactly  what  the  proper  name  is — a  new 
element.  If  Lord  Eayleigh  were  here  I  should 
appeal  to  him.  Next  week  in  a  thousand  labora 
tories  in  the  United  States  and  Australia  the  boys 
out  of  mere  sport  will  be  producing  the  new  element 
again  [laughter],  and  the  response  to  new  ideas  is 
immediate  the  whole  world  over.  I  have  referred 
once  before  to  Lord  Kelvin.  Let  me  refer  to  him 
again,  because  his  name  is  one  which  we  in  America 
hold  in  special  reverence.  [Cheers.]  We  cannot 
cross  the  seas  in  safety  without  relying  upon  two 
of  his  best-known  inventions.  We  cannot  send  those 
words  of  greeting  which  we  are  passing  to  and  fro, 
hourly  and  momentarily,  between  the  two  countries, 
without  availing  ourselves  of  his  distinguished 


THE  AMBASSADOE  315 

services.  [Cheers.]  And  what  shall  I  say  of  the 
retiring  President  of  this  Society  and  the  services 
which  he  has  rendered?  [Loud  cheers.]  I  have 
said  that  new  thoughts,  new  ideas,  new  secrets, 
wrested  from  nature,  new  elements,  new  principles, 
reach  immediately  and  for  all  time  to  the  whole 
human  race.  You  may  go  into  any  hospital  on  the 
American  continent,  into  any  sick  room  in  any 
civilized  country,  and  there  you  will  find  misery 
relieved,  and  the  pains  of  disease  and  death  miti 
gated,  by  Lord  Lister's  alleviating  hand.  [Cheers.] 
I  suppose  I  ought,  in  conclusion,  by  way  of  illus 
tration,  to  appeal  to  the  triumphant  success  of  your 
new  President.  [Cheers.]  In  America  we  claim  no 
special  American  stars — no  local  comets,  no  private 
nebulae.  They  are  common  to  all  mankind.  That  is 
a  theme  and  a  subject  of  experiment  upon  which 
we  can  appeal  to  a  common  brotherhood,  to  a 
common  humanity  and  to  international  sympathy, 
without  provoking  criticism  on  either  side  of  the 
water.  These  great  ideas,  these  great  works  which 
these  illustrious  men  accomplish  are  free  for  the 
benefit  of  the  world.  They  are  the  glorious  fruits 
of  the  organization  and  the  continuance  of  this 
Society.  Their  value  cannot  be  overestimated,  and 
the  work  which  this  Society  is  doing,  and  to  which  all 
the  scientific  societies  of  the  English-speaking  com 
munities  appeal  as  to  the  head  and  source,  reach 
far  beyond  these  islands — far  beyond  the  confines 
of  the  British  Empire,  and  is  really  circulating  for 
the  benefit  of  mankind  all  round  the  globe.  So  if 


316  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

I  have  rightly  set  before  you  but  one  view  of  the 
merits  of  this  august  Society  I  may  ask  you  in 
your  own  honor  to  fill  your  glasses  and  drink  to 
the  health  of  the  Eoyal  Society,  Esto  perpetua." 
[Loud  cheers.] 

On  November  16,  1900,  at  Burnley  in  the  vicinity 
of  Manchester  there  was  a  large  gathering  in  the 
meeting  hall  of  the  Mechanics  Institution  and  the 
Mechanics  School  in  that  town,  to  witness  the 
distribution  of  awards  to  students  who  had 
attended  science,  art  and  technical  classes,  and  to 
listen  to  an  address  by  Mr.  Choate.  Preliminary 
to  this  gathering,  he  was  presented  in  the  afternoon, 
at  Rose  Grove,  with  an  address  of  welcome  by  the 
town  authorities.  In  the  evening,  after  the  prizes 
had  been  distributed,  he  spoke  as  follows : 

When  he  landed  at  Rose  Grove  that  afternoon  he 
confessed  to  a  slight  chill  of  disappointment. 
[Laughter.]  He  cast  his  eyes  upwards  hoping  to 
greet  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  Grove — [laughter] 
—he  dilated  his  nostrils  to  drink  in  the  perfume  of 
the  roses.  [Laughter.]  But  where  were  they? 
Echo  answered,  Where?  Was  there  any  woman  in 
Burnley  who  would  confess  to  being  old  enough  to 
remember  when  there  were?  [Laughter.]  He  soon 
found  himself,  however,  under  the  hospitable  shelter 
of  Gawthorpe  Hall,  the  absence  of  whose  owner 
everybody  regretted.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  Mr. 
Choate  went  on  to  say  that  there  were  many  reasons 


THE  AMBASSADOR  317 

why  an  American  should  take  great  pride  in  ad 
dressing  the  men  and  women  of  Burnley.  One  was 
the  fidelity  and  loyalty  with  which  the  people  of 
this  great  manufacturing  region  had  adhered  to 
and  maintained  their  friendship  with  the  United 
States.  Probably  not  many  of  them  were  old 
enough  to  remember  the  frightful  Cotton  Famine 
that  was  produced  by  the  great  American  Civil 
War,  or  the  misery  which  the  necessary  cutting  off 
of  the  supply  of  cotton  during  those  four  years 
inflicted  upon  the  long-suffering  people  of  this 
region.  But  in  America  they  had  not  forgotten  it. 
The  people  of  Lancashire  bore  with  the  utmost 
fortitude  the  hardships  that  were  so  entailed  upon 
them,  and  when  President  Lincoln  thought  the  time 
had  come,  and  the  indispensable  necessity  had  oc 
curred  for  issuing  his  great  proclamation  which 
struck  the  shackles  from  the  limbs  of  4,000,000 
slaves,  it  was  nowhere  more  cordially  received,  or 
welcomed  with  more  intense  enthusiasm,  than  by  the 
very  operatives  of  Lancashire  who  had  suffered  the 
most.  [Applause.]  Another  reason  was  that  every 
American  was,  naturally,  inherently  interested  in 
the  subject  of  education.  In  his  country,  where  all 
men  were  absolutely  equal  before  the  law,  and 
charged  with  equal  power  for  the  government  and 
control  of  its  institutions,  everything  depended  upon 
public  opinion,  and  that  public  opinion  must  rest  for 
safety,  and  could  only  rest  safely,  upon  the  intelli 
gence  of  the  people  and  of  all  the  people.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  And  from  the  earliest  times  they  had 


318  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

shown  interest  in  the  subject.  The  pilgrim  fathers 
had  hardly  landed  upon  their  Eock,  celebrated  in 
history,  when  they  began  to  establish  schools.  As 
soon  as  they  could  gather  themselves  together,  after 
the  hardships  of  the  first  few  winters  were  over, 
they  established  a  college  in  the  name  of  a  cele 
brated  Englishman,  which  had  since  become  famous, 
and  ever  since  then  his  countrymen  had  made  edu 
cation  their  chief  industry.  He  thought  it  was  the 
chief  industry  of  Burnley,  from  what  he  saw  that 
night.  Throughout  the  United  States  it  had  been 
the  chief  industry  of  the  people,  because  its  develop 
ment  and  extension  were  absolutely  necessary  in  the 
common  judgment  for  the  safety  of  their  institu 
tions  ;  and  if  there  had  been  anything  good  accom 
plished  in  America,  he  thought  they  might  attribute 
it  to  the  devotion  of  its  people  to  education  and  to 
the  universal  dissemination  of  a  perfectly  adequate 
common  school  system  throughout  the  country. 
[Applause.]  His  own  impression  was  that  now, 
after  a  sixty  years'  successful  career  of  that  insti 
tution,  Burnley  had  very  much  the  same  system 
that  prevailed  on  an  establishment  of  250  years  in 
the  New  England  States.  He  meant  a  regular 
gradation  of  schools  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 
There  were  primary,  grammar,  high  and  classical 
schools,  all  preparing  boys  and  girls  for  every 
service  and  duty  in  life.  And  the  citizen  of  the 
United  States  had  to  bear  no  expense  for  the 
education  of  his  children  until  it  reached  a  point 
where  they  were  ready  to  enter  the  University,  and 


THE  AMBASSADOR  319 

then  he  must  take  charge  of  it  and  relieve  the  State. 
The  matter  of  technical  education  had  not  been 
overlooked.  What  was  education  for?  What  was 
life  for,  except  to  prepare  the  boy  or  girl  to  be 
useful  to  himself  or  herself  and  to  the  community 
and  the  age  into  which  he  or  she  was  born? 
[Applause.]  It  was  once  thought  by  some  former 
generations  that  it  was  enough  to  turn  out  a  child 
at  the  age  of  thirteen  with  what  were  called  the 
elements  of  education — reading,  writing  and  arith 
metic,  with  probably  a  little  geography  thrown  in, 
and  nobody  could  be  more  helpless  than  that  un 
fortunate  child  starting  out  at  that  time  to  earn 
a  living.  After  all,  you  could  not  eat  verbs  and 
adverbs;  you  could  not  drink  vulgar  fractions; 
you  could  not  wear  geographical  maps.  ["Hear, 
hear,"  and  laughter.]  And  the  thing  was  to  equip 
the  child  so  that  it  might  battle  safely  with  the 
world.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  This  having  occurred 
to  his  ancestors  generations  ago,  they  began  to  af 
ford  supplementary  education  both  in  the  form  of 
secondary  education  and  that  of  technical  education. 
They  had  every  form  and  grade  of  school,  from 
those  where  boys  and  girls  were  gathered  together, 
as  in  New  York,  to  receive  the  merest  rudiments  of 
education  in  the  methods  of  earning  a  living,  up  to 
the  highest  universities  in  the  land,  and  there  were 
many  of  these  known  as  colleges  of  technology.  The 
result  was  that  the  boy  or  girl,  man  or  woman,  was 
still  at  school.  The  boy  did  not  leave  school  behind 
him,  but  had  one,  two,  or  three  hours  a  day  that 


320  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

he  might  be  able  to  devote  to  it  outside  of  his 
work.  This  might  be  hard  for  him,  but  there  was 
an  immense  gain  by  these  evening  and  secondary 
and  technical  schools  both  in  his  country  and  in 
this.  He  would  call  attention  to  one  or  two  things 
which  showed  the  national  importance  of  this  sup 
plementary  education,  such  as  that  institution  repre 
sented.  His  own  belief  was  that  the  contest  and 
the  conflict  of  the  future  between  the  great  nations 
of  Christendom  were  not  to  be  conflicts  in  arms — 
at  any  rate  he  hoped  not.  [Applause.]  They  would 
be  industrial,  and  commercial,  and  agricultural 
conflicts.  They  would  be  conflicts,  controversies, 
contentions  in  the  arts  of  peace,  and  especially  in 
the  industrial  arts.  He  thought  it  was  the  happiest 
thing  for  the  working  men  and  women  at  the  present 
day  that  this  prospect  fairly  loomed  up  before  us. 
There  was  no  amount  of  international  sentiment  or 
gush  which  would  stand  in  the  way  of  this  vigorous, 
constant,  ever-growing  competition  between  the 
nations  in  the  arts  of  peace,  and  so  the  nation  that 
equipped  men  and  women  best,  especially  those 
engaged  in  industrial  occupations,  would  come  out 
best  in  the  end.  His  own  impression  was  that  if 
any  of  the  great  nations  should  deem  it  expedient 
to  spend  too  much  of  its  time  and  substance  and 
energy  in  the  destructive  luxury  of  war,  it  would 
fall  sadly  behind  its  rivals  in  these  same  arts  of 
peace.  [Applause.]  We  must  not  rely  too  much 
on  the  Anglo-Saxon  supremacy  which  we  had  read 
so  much  about.  There  were  other  nations,  not 


THE  AMBASSADOR  321 

strictly  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  group,  that  were  fully 
awake  to  the  importance  of  this  subject,  and  there 
were  very  few  of  the  nations  of  Christendom  that 
were  not  awake  to  it.  He  did  not  think  it  would 
do  for  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  to 
look  upon  themselves  as  the  sole  competitors  in 
this  most  important  field  and  to  leave  Germany  out. 
Germany  would  not  consent  to  be  left  out.  He  was 
not  sure  whether  or  not  she  was  a  little  ahead  of 
us  already.  At  any  rate,  she  was  neglecting  no 
means  or  opportunities  for  advancing  the  progress 
of  her  people  in  these  arts  of  peace.  And  this  was 
not  the  case  in  Germany  alone.  Other  nations — 
France,  Austria,  Switzerland,  Sweden  and  many 
others — were  pressing  closely  upon  the  heels  of  the 
greater  nations  in  the  same  way.  They  had  heard 
of  little  towns  in  Germany  that  had  become  famous 
by  the  skill  and  persistence  with  which  they  had 
pressed  forward  in  this  great  struggle.  They  would 
have  heard  of  the  little  town  of  Chemnitz,  in 
Saxony,  famous  for  its  productions  and  its  wealth, 
as  an  aggregation  of  industrial  workers  pushing 
their  products  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  all  on 
account  of  attention  to  this  business  of  technical 
and  higher  education  for  workingmen.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  In  concluding,  Mr.  Choate  commended 
the  work  which  was  being  carried  on  in  that  insti 
tution.  In  the  United  States,  he  said,  they  did  not 
mean  to  be  left  behind  in  this  industrial,  com 
mercial  and  agricultural  progress,  if  by  any  honor 
able  means  they  could  avoid  it.  He  believed  that 


322  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

was  the  spirit  which  animated  the  nations  of 
Christendom  to-day,  and  it  was  from  that  he  drew 
his  best  augury  for  the  future.  [Applause.] 

The  following  address  was  likewise  delivered  on 
Prize  Day  at  University  College  School,  an  insti 
tution  founded,  as  Mr.  Choate  expressed  it,  on  a 
*  *  no-flogging  platform. ' ' 

Mr.  Choate  said  he  had  never  attended  a  prize 
distribution  without  feeling  sympathy  for  those 
boys  who  were  not  among  the  prize-winners.  He 
was  satisfied  that  a  great  deal  of  the  merit  of  a 
school  rested  in  their  superior  numbers.  [Laugh 
ter.]  He  had  heard  of  a  school  where,  at  the  close 
of  the  year's  exercises,  a  prize  was  awarded  to 
every  boy.  That  might  have  had  some  effect, 
possibly,  in  diminishing  the  ardor  of  the  competi 
tion,  but  it  would  remove  all  hard  feeling.  [Laugh 
ter.]  Congratulating  the  headmaster  and  his  staff 
on  the  position  attained  by  the  school,  his  Excel 
lency  declared  that  if  it  were  challenged  as  an 
institution  where  boys  relied  largely  upon  parental 
influence,  to  a  comparison  with  other  schools  to 
which  boys  were  gathered  away  from  their  homes 
and  families,  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  point 
to  some  of  the  school's  best  products— for  example, 
Tom  Hood,  Lord  Leighton,  John  Morley,  Joseph 
Chamberlain— [cheers]— the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  Lord  Lindley,  and  Baron  Hayashi,  the 
distinguished  Minister  for  Japan.  He  had  heard  of 


THE  AMBASSADOR  323 

an  English  father  whose  last  injunction  to  his  son 
on  his  leaving  for  school  reflected  the  spirit  that 
governed  all  England — and  he  would  add — all 
America  as  well.  Said  the  father:  "I  will  tell  you 
three  things  as  you  are  leaving  home;  never  tell 
a  lie ;  never  do  anything  that  you  would  be  ashamed 
to  do  in  my  sight;  and,  if  you  must  fight,  strike 
always  straight  from  the  shoulder. "  He  would  like 
to  try,  as  an  experiment,  sending  to  America  and 
distributing  among  the  colleges  and  universities 
there  the  prize-winners  of  the  school  he  was  ad 
dressing,  and  having  an  equal  number  of  prize-boys 
sent  over  here  from  the  States  and  similarly  dis 
tributed.  He  thought  such  an  experiment  would  do 
a  great  deal  to  promote  the  harmony,  friendly 
feeling  and  "altogetherness" — to  use  a  word  coined 
by  the  headmaster — existing  between  the  two 
nations.  The  points  in  which  that  school  differed 
from  most  of  the  other  schools  of  England  were 
points  as  to  which  it  would  secure  great  sympathy 
on  his  side  of  the  water,  because,  resting  as  they 
did  in  America  upon  the  education  of  all  the 
children  of  the  State,  and  the  absolute  necessity 
of  imparting  to  all  as  good  an  education  as  possible, 
it  followed  that  most  of  the  15,000,000  children  in 
attendance  at  the  public  schools  of  America  at 
tended  the  day  schools,  and  he  had  yet  to  learn 
that  the  union  of  school  discipline  and  home  in 
fluence  was  derogatory  to  the  success  or  welfare 
of  any  of  the  children.  Adverting  to  the  fact  that 
University  College  School  was  established  on  the 


324  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

u  no-flogging "  platform,  Mr.  Choate  remarked  that 
he  had  discussed  that  question  with  an  English 
mother  of  a  family,  who,  on  hearing  that  in 
American  schools  flogging  was  a  thing  of  the  past, 
said  that  she  was  not  wholly  in  favor  of  that,  for 
she  "exercised  that  liberty  at  home."  [Laughter.] 
But  this  good  English  mother  and  matron  added, 
"I  never  whip  my  boys  after  they  get  to  be  three 
years  old."  [Laughter.]  Some  of  them  were  old 
enough  to  remember  the  time  when  flogging  in 
schools  was  almost  universal,  and  there  was  a 
notion  that  if  you  couldn't  get  an  idea  in  fairly 
at  one  end  of  a  boy,  you  could  hammer  it  in  success 
fully  at  the  other.  [Laughter.]  But  in  these  days, 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  the  English  language 
was  spoken,  civilization  had  advanced,  and  parents 
treated  their  children,  and  schoolmasters  their 
pupils,  and  pupils  and  children  their  schoolmasters 
and  parents  with  a  great  deal  more  humanity  than 
in  ages  past. 

Again,  on  a  like  occasion,  he  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Choate  said  he  regarded  it  as  a  compliment 
paid  to  his  country  that  he  should  have  been  invited 
by  the  Leys  School  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings 
that  day.  He  congratulated  the  boys  on  the 
acquisition  of  prizes,  which  he  had  no  doubt  were 
the  well-earned  fruit  of  the  happy  and  honest 
exercise  of  the  faculties  which  God  had  given  them, 
far  more  precious,  far  more  valuable  than  any 


THE  AMBASSADOR  325 

prizes  they  could  ever  acquire  by  their  aid.  His 
heart  went  out,  after  rendering  that  delightful 
service  to  those  who  had  obtained  prizes,  to  those 
hundred  or  more  unhappy  beings  who  were  not 
summoned  to  the  platform.  [Laughter.]  Might  he 
not  say  a  few  words  in  their  behalf!  There  was  a 
consolation  prize,  they  knew,  always  awarded  to 
those  who  had  failed  in  the  first  contest,  and  there 
was  a  great  deal  those  young  gentlemen  might  say 
in  their  own  behalf.  In  the  first  place,  they  con 
stituted  the  vast  majority.  [Laughter.]  He  came 
from  a  country  where  it  was  universally  held  that 
it  was  the  right  of  the  majority  to  rule  [laughter], 
and  if  he  rightly  read  the  boys'  faces  there  was 
no  disappointment  there;  there  was  triumph. 
[Renewed  laughter.]  They  said  to  themselves, 
"See  what  we  might  have  done  if  we  had  only 
tried."  He  had  no  doubt  that  they  would  exercise 
their  powers  and  would  rule  the  school,  and  rule  it 
in  a  benign  and  happy  spirit.  After  all,  there  was 
one  thing  for  those  boys  who  had  not  obtained 
prizes,  they  must  act  on  the  old  English  maxim, 
which  had  been  an  American  maxim  ever  since  their 
country  was  first  started,  "If  you  don't  at  first 
succeed,  try  again."  What  was  the  difference 
between  the  boys  who  had  obtained  the  prizes  and 
those  who  had  not  got  them!  His  firm  conviction 
was  that  if  a  boy  determined  to  have  a  prize  he 
was  sure  to  get  it.  It  was  so  in  the  prizes  of  life. 
After  a  fair  allowance  for  all  the  variations  of  gifts 
of  birth  and  fortune,  it  was  the  man  who  had  the 


326  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

will  to  take  the  prizes  that  got  them  in  life.  Might 
he  draw  an  illustration  from  his  own  profession? 
He  had  Known  all  the  leading  lawyers  in  America, 
and  many  of  those  in  England  for  the  last  forty 
years.  No  two  of  them  were  alike  in  mental,  moral, 
physical  and  natural  endowments,  except  in  one 
thing,  and  that  was  in  absolute  tenacity  of  purpose, 
in  striving  like  grim  death  for  the  object  which  they 
had  before  them,  ignoring  everything  but  attaining 
that  object  by  all  the  honorable  means  in  their 
power,  through  all  sorts  of  difficulties,  against  every 
obstacle  of  health,  of  poverty,  of  repeated  failures 
and  disappointments,  until  at  last  success  crowned 
their  efforts.  He  rejoiced  to  speak  before  the  Leys 
School.  He  did  not  see  how  the  Leys  School  had 
any  favors  to  ask  of  any  other  school  in  England 
or  in  America,  It  had  one  great  advantage.  It 
might  not  have  the  prestige  of  age,  the  foundations 
of  its  buildings  might  not  be  wet,  like  some  of  those 
of  the  neighboring  University,  with  the  spray  of 
the  Deluge  [laughter],  but  it  had  all  the  charm  of 
youth  and  novelty,  and  if  he  were  choosing  under 
the  impression  of  that  hour  between  all  the  schools 
of  England  where  he  could  place  himself  if  he  could 
renew  his  youth,  or  place  one  of  his  children,  he 
would  drop  in  at  that  school.  [Cheers.]  Old  schools 
must  labor  under  some  disadvantages.  He  had  no 
doubt  the  Master  of  Trinity  found  it  so  even  in 
Trinity  itself.  There  might  be  old  statutes,  old 
prejudices,  old  notions,  that  interfered  with  modern 
progress  which  the  spirit  of  the  age  demanded.  It 


THE  AMBASSADOR  327 

was  not  so  under  the  Master  of  Trinity's  manage 
ment,  he  was  only  imagining  it  might  be  so.  He 
had  been  very  much  struck  since  he  had  been  in 
England  by  the  fact  that  there  was  always  one  great 
reason  for  doing  a  thing,  and  another  great  reason 
for  not  doing  it.  [Laughter.]  The  one  great  reason 
for  doing  a  thing  was  that  it  always  had  been  done, 
and  the  one  unanswerable  reason  for  not  doing  it 
was  that  it  never  had  been  done.  [Laughter.]  It 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  an  American,  and  the 
official  representative  of  the  American  nation, 
should  not  feel  honored  in  being  invited  to  take 
such  a  part  as  they  had  called  upon  him  to  do  in 
a  distinguished  institution  of  education  like  the 
Leys  School.  For  education  had  been  the  chief 
industry  of  the  American  people  from  the  very 
beginning.  All  their  other  industries  had  been 
built  up  upon 'that;  all  their  material  and  moral 
success  had  proceeded  from  that.  When  their 
ancestors  first  sought  refuge  there  in  the  wilder 
ness  the  first  thing  they  did  was  to  provide  school 
ing  for  all  the  children,  and  the  next  thing  was  to 
establish  a  college,  founded  in  the  name  of  a 
graduate  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  which 
had  grown  to  be  an  institution  even  more  powerful 
than  its  celebrated  mother.  And  then  when  they 
were  forced  into  asserting  their  independence  they 
discovered  another  thing  which  made  the  education 
of  all  the  people  an  absolute  necessity,  and  that 
was,  that  as  they  were  to  govern  themselves,  ample 
education  must  be  provided  at  the  public  expense, 


328  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

not  only  for  those  who  were  to  exercise  the  powers 
of  government,  but  also  for  those  who  were  to 
choose  their  own  governors.  That  made  it  neces 
sary  to  provide  for  the  full  and  satisfactory  educa 
tion,  for  all  the  necessary  purposes  of  social  and 
political  life,  of  every  man  and  every  woman  in 
the  community,  because  the  education  of  the  woman 
was  quite  as  important  as  that  of  the  man,  as  the 
mother  gave  the  character  always  to  the  children. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  He  had  not  the  time  or  he 
would  like  to  have  told  them  the  results  which  had 
come  from  that  fostering  of  education  among  the 
whole  people  during  a  series  of  200  years.  It  had 
been  very  marked.  He  might,  for  instance,  point 
to  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  It  was  a  community 
of  two  and  a  half  millions  of  people,  where  not 
only  primary  education,  but  full  secondary  educa 
tion,  was  provided  at  the  public  expense  for  all  the 
children  of  the  State.  But  in  addition  to  that,  the 
school  education  had  been  supplemented  by  the 
establishment  of  a  library  system  which  continued 
their  education  through  a  long  series  of  years  after 
they  had  left  school.  There  were  350  townships  in 
Massachusetts,  and  of  those  all  but  six  had  public 
libraries  to  which  every  citizen  had  free  access 
and  to  take  out  books  to  read,  and  they  were 
wonderfully  improved  by  them.  So  they  did  not 
go  amiss  when  they  went  to  America  and  to  Ameri 
cans  for  sympathy  on  the  subject  of  education. 
Their  methods  were  different,  but,  if  he  rightly 
understood  the  two  people,  the  results  were  the 


THE  AMBASSADOR  329 

same.  What  was  the  object  of  education  in  a  school 
like  the  Leys  and  in  the  neighboring  University? 
It  was  to  turn  out  men — was  it  not? — whose  facul 
ties  had  been  trained  to  their  full  strength,  and 
for  every  man  to  turn  out  a  gentleman.  That  was 
the  object  on  both  sides  of  the  water.  As  had  been 
well  said,  these  two  peoples,  traveling  along  on 
parallel  lines,  had  a  great  work  to  do  in  the  future, 
and  the  greater  it  was,  the  heavier  the  responsibility 
that  weighed  upon  them,  the  more  education  must 
be  imparted  to  them,  and  the  more  must  such 
schools  as  the  Leys  School,  and  such  Universities 
as  the  Cambridge  University,  be  promoted  and 
sustained.  His  word  for  it,  in  the  future  they 
would  find  that  the  two  nations  were  working  on 
the  same  lines.  What  was  the  whole  object  of 
their  political  existence?  He  supposed  it  was  to 
promote  justice  the  world  over,  to  maintain  free 
dom,  to  maintain  the  individual  liberty  of  every 
man  to  exercise  the  functions  with  which  he  had 
been  endowed,  so  far  as  was  possible,  provided  he 
did  not  interfere  with  the  rest  of  the  community. 
He  believed  that  in  the  Providence  of  God  it  had 
been  intrusted  to  these  two  nations  each  in  its  way, 
each  according  to  the  work  which  was  thrown  upon 
it,  to  advance  mankind  to  a  better,  a  higher  and  a 
nobler  civilization.  [Loud  cheers.] 

At  a  distribution  of  prizes  gained  by  the  students 
of  Crewe  Mechanics  Institution  he  delivered  the 
following  address,  referring  to  railways  and  the 


330  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

essentials    to    successful    service    by    their    em 
ployees  : 

When  he  came  into  the  room  and  saw  the  Union 
Jack  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  hanging  together 
opposite  to  the  platform  he  knew  that  he  was  all 
right.  [Laughter.]  Those  two  flags  had  not  always 
hung  together  in  so  friendly  a  way,  but  they  had 
been  drawing  closer  and  closer  together  for  many 
years,  and  he  hoped  they  would  never  be  separated 
[Cheers.]  He  had  been  introduced  to  them  by  the 
Chairman  as  the  Ambassador  to  the  United  States. 
He  believed  that  his  legal  title  was  "  Ambassador 
of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  James," 
but  he  took  a  greater  pride  in  being  Ambassador 
from  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  the  people 
of  Great  Britain,  and  nothing  gave  him  greater 
pleasure  than  to  be  the  bearer  of  words  of  sym 
pathy  and  good-will  from  the  workingmen  of  the 
United  States  to  the  workingmen  of  England. 
[Cheers.]  After  all,  the  prosperity  of  each  country 
depended  upon  the  prosperity  and  welfare  and 
efficiency  of  its  workingmen.  If  they  failed,  every 
thing  failed;  if  they  were  successful,  the  whole 
community  was  prosperous.  [Cheers.] 

In  that  hall  they  were  for  the  most  part  con 
cerned  in  the  carrying  on  of  a  great  railway.  In 
such  an  occupation  there  was  no  royal  road  to 
advancement,  either  in  Great  Britain  or  in  the 
United  States.  Even  President  Roosevelt,  with  all 
his  power  and  his  reputation  at  home  and  abroad, 


THE  AMBASSADOR  331 

could  not  command  influence  enough  to  secure  a 
place  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railway  for  an  incom 
petent  man,  and,  what  was  far  better,  he  would 
not  do  so  even  if  he  could.  [Laughter.]  The  way 
to  the  top  in  both  countries  was  the  same — it  was 
from  the  bottom.  And  this,  in  view  of  the  tre 
mendous  powers  and  responsibilities  possessed  by 
those  who  carried  on  the  great  railway  interests,  was 
quite  right.  There  were  a  great  many  more  miles 
of  railway  in  the  United  States  than  in  Great 
Britain,  and  they  drove  their  trains  so  fast 
[laughter],  that  if  they  were  to  put  one  of  them 
on  one  of  the  abbreviated  railways  in  this  country, 
and  send  it  ahead  full  speed,  there  would  be  a 
danger  of  its  running  into  the  Irish  Sea  or  the 
English  Channel  before  it  could  be  stopped.  [Re 
newed  laughter.]  This  mighty  railway  interest  had 
grown  up  in  such  a  short  time  that  there  were  men 
still  living  who  could  remember  Stephenson  running 
his  first  locomotive.  He  could  himself — though  he 
was  not  as  old  as  Methuselah — remember  being 
taken,  at  the  age  of  five,  by  his  father  up  a  hill 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  town  where  he  lived  and 
seeing  the  first  railway  train  coming  from  Boston, 
fourteen  miles  away.  In  a  short  lifetime  there  had 
been  this  tremendous  development  of  an  interest 
which  rested  for  its  success  and  its  prosperity  in  the 
long  run  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  men  who  made 
the  locomotives  and  who  ran  the  trains.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"] 

It  was  the  object  of  this  Institution  to  raise 


332  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

up  a  class  of  men  who  would  make  the  works  and 
the  trains  of  the  great  Company  with  which  they 
were  connected  excelled  by  none  in  the  world.  He 
did  not  admit  that  this  object  had  been  quite 
perfectly  achieved  [laughter],  but  what  they  had 
done  was  an  incentive  to  greater  efforts.  The  man 
who  was  a  model  to  all  who  hoped  for  great  places 
in  the  engineering  profession  was  George  Stephen- 
son.  They  could  not  all  be  Stephensons,  but  if  they 
aimed  at  the  top  they  would  hit  somewhere  high, 
whereas  if  they  aimed  near  the  bottom  the  shaft 
would  stick  in  the  ground,  and  there  was  no  reason 
why  every  young  man  belonging  to  this  Institution 
and  in  the  employment  of  the  North- Western  Com 
pany  should  not  aim  at  making  the  best  of  himself. 
What  was  the  first  condition  of  success!  He  had 
been  a  workingman  himself  all  his  days.  He  had 
not  worked  with  screws  and  bolts  and  machinery, 
but  he  had  worked  at  the  law,  and  he  believed  that 
the  same  qualities  that  accounted  for  success  in  one 
profession  accounted  for  it  in  another.  The  one 
quality  that  could  not  be  dispensed  with,  that  was  in 
dispensable  if  a  man  was  to  advance,  was  absolute, 
incessant,  undying  tenacity  of  purpose.  Benjamin 
Franklin,  whose  beginning  was  as  humble  as  that  of 
Stephenson,  but  who  lived  to  have  it  said  of  him 
that  he  "  snatched  the  lightning  from  the  clouds  and 
the  scepter  from  the  tyrant,"  laid  down  some  other 
rules  for  the  attainment  of  success,  such  as  tem 
perance  and  frugality,  and  these  rules  were  as 
applicable  nowadays  as  at  any  time  before.  But 


THE  AMBASSADOR  333 

success  was  not  everything.  Men  wanted  happiness 
as  well,  and  the  thing  which  conduced  to  this  more 
than  anything  else  was  the  cultivation  of  the  love 
of  reading.  Let  workingmen,  especially,  cultivate 
this  taste  in  themselves  and  in  their  family  life, 
and  nothing  would  do  more  to  promote  the  hap 
piness  of  themselves  and  those  around  them. 
[Cheers.] 

The  Cheyne  Hospital,  Chelsea,  was  founded  in 
1875,  with  the  object  of  caring  for  children  suffering 
from  chronic  and  incurable  diseases,  who,  for  this 
reason,  are  excluded  from  general  hospitals.  At 
a  successful  meeting,  in  aid  of  this  charity,  Au 
gustine  Birrell  delivered  a  lecture  entitled  "A 
Backward  Glance  at  English  Literature  During  the 
Past  Century. "  Mr.  Choate  occupied  the  chair,  and 
there  was  a  distinguished  assemblage. 

In  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  lecturer  Mr. 
Choate,  discoursing  delightfully  on  " Books,"  said: 

That  it  was  delightful  to  follow  such  a  guide 
through  the  long  procession  of  the  great  writers 
of  the  century  just  closed.  In  the  progress  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  world  had  become  so  full 
of  books  that  whoever  suggested  a  nice  selection 
amongst  them  did  a  great  service  to  the  reading 
public.  Whoever  wrote  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes 
2,000  or  3,000  years  ago  declared  that  even  then, 
so  many  centuries  before  the  invention  of  printing, 
that  of  the  making  of  many  books  there  was  no 


334  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

end.  What  would  he  say  if  he  could  take  a  look 
at  the  books  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century,  when  all  the  presses  of  the  world  were 
teeming  with  new  productions?  According  to  the 
latest  statistics  which  he  had  seen  there  were  more 
than  70,000  different  books  produced  in  the  year 
1898  in  Europe,  exclusive  of  Eussia,  and  in  the 
United  States.  In  Germany  the  number  was  23,000, 
France  14,000,  Italy  9,000,  Great  Britain  7,500,  and 
in  the  United  States  about  5,000.  So  that  he  who 
with  knowledge  was  willing  to  guide  them  through 
only  a  small  part  of  one  section  of  that  hopeless 
labyrinth  of  books  did  them  a  vast  service. 
[Cheers.]  The  great  writers — all  the  writers  of 
English  in  the  nineteenth  century — were  the  common 
property  of  all  who  spoke  the  English  tongue,  and 
Mr.  Birrell  had  well  said  that  it  mattered  not  at 
all  in  which  century  the  author  of  a  good  book 
had  lived;  it  was  in  these  days  immediately  seized 
upon  by  the  voracious  reading  public  of  the  whole 
world.  The  English  language,  in  its  wonderful 
fluidity  and  rapid  spread,  recognized  no  interna 
tional  boundaries,  and  carried  the  thoughts  which 
it  expressed  around  the  globe  with  the  speed  of 
steam  and  electricity.  No  nation  could  appropriate 
as  its  own  a  good  book  simply  because  it  had  been 
produced  within  its  borders.  It  became  at  once 
the  property  of  the  English-speaking  race  who 
would  have  it  in  all  the  continents  and  all  the  islands 
of  the  sea.  And  as  all  readers  everywhere  got  the 
benefit  of  the  brains  of  all  authors,  was  it  a  mere 


THE  AMBASSADOR  335 

fanciful  dream,  or  would  it  only  be  realized  in  the 
distant  future — in  the  millennium  of  English  litera 
ture — that  all  authors  would  get  the  reciprocal 
benefit  of  all  this  reading,  without  regard  to  inter 
national  or  colonial  limits!  So  that  a  copyright 
properly  secured  anywhere  should  be  good  every 
where,  like  any  other  righ*  of  property,  so  that 
whether  issued  at  Washington  or  London,  or  Mel 
bourne  or  Montreal,  it  should  protect  its  own 
wherever  the  English  or  American  flag  flies,  or  the 
English  or  American  language  is  spoken — just  as 
the  English  sovereign  or  the  American  gold  eagle 
bearing  the  national  stamp  passed  current  at  its 
face  value  all  over  the  world.  While  he  had  been 
greatly  interested  in  what  Mr.  Birrell  had  said  of 
certain  great  writers,  the  reading  of  whose  books 
requires  great  thought  and  exertion  in  the  reader, 
he  could  not  but  think  that  the  vast  majority  of 
readers  required  something  easier  than  Carlyle  or 
Browning,  and  fell  back  upon  books  that  could  be 
read  without  thinking  and  remembered  without 
effort.  [Cheers.]  The  works  of  fiction  published 
each  year  in  England  and  America  more  than 
doubled  the  number  of  those  published  in  any  other 
department  of  literature.  In  his  country  the  five 
most  successful  works  written  during  the  last  five 
years  reached  a  sale  of  from  250,000  to  500,000,  and 
if  each  copy  were  read  by  ten  readers,  between  two 
and  a  half  and  five  millions  of  people  would  have 
read  them.  The  value  and  influence  of  great  writers 
of  English  fiction,  such  as  Scott,  Dickens,  Thack- 


336  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

eray,  Jane  Austen  and  George  Eliot,  could  not 
be  overestimated.  Their  books  continued  to  be 
issued  in  large  editions  on  both  continents.  Scott's 
delightful  romances  had  found  their  way  into  every 
house  where  English  was  read.  They  could  always 
be  read  with  the  same  relish  and  zest  as  they  had 
been  devoured  in  the  eagerness  of  youth.  They 
were  found  in  the  dispatch-boxes  of  Ministers  and 
Ambassadors,  beneath  the  gowns  of  Bishops  and 
Judges,  in  the  knapsack  of  the  soldier,  the  bunk  of 
the  sailor,  and  in  the  miner's  camp.  Indeed,  Scott 
had  made  Scotland,  its  magnificent  scenery,  its 
history,  its  heroes,  and  its  delightful  capital  per 
fectly  familiar  and  dear  to  all.  He  would  give  them 
the  tribute  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  men 
of  letters,  his  most  illustrious  predecessor,  James 
Eussell  Lowell,  to  that  wonderful  "  Wizard  of  the 
North,"  as  it  came  to  him  the  other  day.  Lowell's 
end  was  very  near.  He,  and  all  his  friends,  knew 
well  that  for  him  the  silver  cord  of  life  would  soon 
be  loosed.  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  went  out  to 
pay  him  a  last  visit  at  his  house  at  Elmwood.  The 
two  had  always  been  like  brothers,  calling  each 
other  by  their  first  names.  As  the  doctor  entered 
the  room  he  said,  in  his  usual  benignant  and  breezy 
way,  "Well,  James,  how  are  you  to-day!"  And 
Lowell,  book  in  hand,  looked  up  with  a  bright  smile 
and  answered,  "Wendell,  I  do  not  know  how  I  am, 
and  I  don't  care.  I  am  reading  Rob  Roy." 
[Laughter.]  Dickens  had  done  for  England  and 
London  what  Scott  did  for  Scotland  and  Edinburgh. 


THE  AMBASSADOR  337 

He  made  the  great  metropolis  very  familiar  to 
Americans  of  his  generation,  and  he  hoped  ever 
since.  When  they  came  to  London  they  sought  out 
the  haunts  of  his  characters  and  his  types  of  Eng 
lishmen,  and  generally  they  found  them.  [Laugh 
ter.]  There  were  some  sad  changes,  it  must  be 
admitted,  in  the  last  fifty  years.  They  might  stand 
in  Piccadilly  an  hour  together  and  watch  every 
omnibus  and  coach  without  finding  a  single  Tony 
Weller.  Splendid  as  those  drivers  are,  and  skilled 
with  rein  and  whip  and  governed  with  a  whisper, 
they  had  lost  the  globular  features  and  spherical 
form  which  Boz  loved  to  describe  and  Cruikshank 
to  draw.  They  could  any  day  walk  down  Goswell 
Street  without  recognizing  Mr.  Pickwick.  The 
President  of  the  Pickwick  Club  of  to-day  showed 
the  obvious  marks  of  training.  As  Dickens 's  books 
came  out  they  were  eagerly  devoured  in  America. 
Dombey  and  Son  came  out  in  numbers  long  before 
the  laying  of  the  first  Atlantic  cable,  and  several 
numbers  went  over  in  fortnightly  steamers,  the 
most  frequent  communication  of  that  day.  In  an 
early  part  of  the  story  little  Paul  was  brought  to 
the  verge  of  the  grave,  the  last  number  to  hand 
leaving  him  hovering  between  life  and  death,  and 
all  America  was  anxious  to  know  his  fate.  When 
the  next  steamer  arrived  bringing  decisive  news 
the  dock  was  crowded  with  people.  The  passengers 
imagined  some  great  national  or  international  event 
had  happened.  But  it  was  only  the  eager  reading 
public  who  had  hurried  down  to  meet  the  steamer 


338  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

and  get  the  first  news  as  to  whether  little  Paul 
was  alive  or  dead.  [Cheers.]  He  took  it  as  a  great 
compliment  to  one  of  their  American  writers  that 
the  only  mention  which  Mr.  Birrell  in  his  review  of 
the  nineteenth  century  had  made  of  any  living 
writer,  was  his  allusion  to  the  author  of  that 
literary  classic,  Huckleberry  Finn.  The  Mark 
Twain — the  'mark  twain/  as  his  pseudonym  had 
been  happily  translated — was  called  the  Bismarck 
of  to-day's  American  literature.  He  certainly  had 
done  as  much  as  one  man  could  to  amuse  and  enter 
tain  the  English-speaking  world.  Mr.  Birrell  had 
most  felicitously  described  Emerson  and  Hawthorne 
as  being  as  dear  to  the  English  reader  as  to  the 
American.  Certainly  Emerson's  book  on  English 
Traits  was  one  of  the  most  appreciative  and  valu 
able  descriptions  of  English  life  and  character  that 
any  foreigner  had  ever  written,  and  was  as  true 
and  readable  to-day  as  when  it  came  from  the  press 
half  a  century  ago.  Hawthorne's  whole  nature  was 
deeply  saturated  with  colonial  and  ancestral  tradi 
tions,  reaching  back  to  the  England  of  Elizabeth 
and  the  Stuarts.  One  of  his  greatest  and  most 
subtle  works  was  cut  short  by  his  death.  It  was  a 
real  international  Anglo-American  classic — Dr. 
Grimshawe's  Secret.  It  was  hung  upon  the  van 
ishing  thread  of  heredity  which  existed  between 
many  an  old  English  family  and  its  American 
branch,  cut  off  by  the  ocean.  The  long  and  tangled 
skein  was  in  this  work  unraveled  with  that  artistic 
skill  and  charm  of  which  only  Hawthorne  was 


THE  AMBASSADOR  339 

master.  [Cheers.]  His  Excellency  closed  by 
warmly  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Birrell. 
The  vote  was  carried  with  great  cordiality,  and 
the  meeting  broke  up  with  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks 
to  Mr.  Choate. 

The  Authors  Club  in  London,  at  a  dinner  on 
February  20,  1900,  was  favored  with  an  after- 
dinner  address,  in  which  Mr.  Choate  referred  to 
American  education  and  American  readers,  and 
what  the  English  language  had  done  in  producing 
the  most  widely  read  books  of  modern  times. 

Mr.,  now  Sir  Gilbert,  Parker,  the  Chairman,  in 
proposing  the  health  of  Mr.  Choate,  referred  to  the 
great  justice  which  was  shown  in  America  to  authors 
— that  much-maligned  and  much-admired  fra 
ternity.  [Laughter,  and  '  *  Hear !  Hear ! ' '] 

Mr.  Choate,  in  reply,  said  he  came  there  partly 
as  a  reader  and  partly  as  a  representative  of  one 
of  the  greatest  reading  communities  that  had  ever 
existed.  [Cheers.]  He  knew  of  no  relation  of  any 
other  body  of  people  so  important  to  authors  as 
that  of  readers — [laughter  and  "hear,  hear"] — and 
it  was  the  fact  that  they  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic  were  entitled  to  rank  very  high  in  this 
relation  of  readers  to  authors.  In  the  first  place, 
the  people  of  the  United  States  constituted  the  vast 
majority  of  the  English-speaking  peoples  of  the 
globe,  and  they  all  knew  very  well,  they  asserted  it 
every  day,  that  the  majority  must  rule — [laughter] 


340  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

— at  least  they  must  be  assigned  a  paramountcy 
— [renewed  laughter] — as  between  authors  and 
readers,  and  as  to  everything  else  that  related  to 
the  English  tongue.  And  it  was  not  merely  by 
weight  of  rulers  that  they  asserted  their  authority. 
It  was  because  the  art  and  the  habit  of  reading  had 
been  encouraged  and  stimulated  on  the  American 
side  of  the  water  to  a  degree  that  added  tenfold  to 
the  mere  weight  of  writers.  But  a  body  of  seventy- 
seven  millions  of  people  as  customers  was  entitled 
to  very  generous  consideration.  [Laughter  and 
cheers.]  Let  them  consider  why  the  Americans  had 
been  such  devourers  of  authors  as  they  confessedly 
were. 

Well,  an  explanation  was  the  general  education 
of  all  the  people,  which  brought  them  into  life  fully 
qualified  to  enjoy  all  the  good  things  that  authors 
put  before  them — the  general  education  at  the 
expense  of  the  State  that  formed  the  groundwork 
of  all  American  free  institutions.  ["Hear! 
Hear!"]  But  not  only  was  free  education  up  to 
the  age  when  the  boy  or  girl  could  take  care  of 
itself,  but  there  was  a  system  established  amongst 
them  which  might  be  regarded  as  an  explanation 
of  the  public  education,  of  the  school  education,  that 
went  upon  the  theory  that  education  was  not  to 
end  with  boyhood  or  childhood,  but  was  to  be  con 
tinued  all  through  life.  He  referred  to  the  estab 
lishment  and  development  of  the  library  system,  for 
which,  he  thought,  the  United  States  might  claim 
some  credit.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  There  were  351 


THE  AMBASSADOR  341 

towns  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  In  those, 
with  the  exception  of  seven,  the  public  had  the  use 
of  public  libraries  provided  at  the  public  expense. 
In  those  libraries  there  were  three  and  three- 
quarters  millions  of  volumes — about  a  volume  and  a 
half  for  each  inhabitant  of  the  State — and  the  cir 
culation  in  twelve  months  amounted  to  seven  and 
two-thirds  millions,  or  three  volumes  for  each  in 
habitant,  men,  women  and  children,  and  babies  in 
arms.  Could  they  point  to  any  other  country  under 
the  sun  in  which  that  state  of  things  could  be  said 
to  exist?  [Cheers.]  And  was  there  not  a  reflex 
action  of  the  readers  upon  authors  as  well  as  of 
the  authors  upon  the  readers?  ["Hear!  Hear!"] 
Might  it  not  be  owing  to  some  such  relation  as 
that  that  in  these  last  sixty  years  there  had  been 
authors  of  such  eminence  in  America?  Massachu 
setts,  to  which  he  had  been  referring  in  connection 
with  this  free  libraries  movement,  had,  however, 
only  led  the  way,  for  the  last  report  of  the  National 
Bureau  of  Education  to  which  he  had  had  access, 
showed  that  there  were  4,000  free  libraries  in 
America,  containing  more  than  thirty-three  millions 
of  volumes.  [Cheers.]  He  alluded  to  the  "teach 
ableness  "  of  the  people  who  spoke  the  English 
tongue,  as  was  shown  by  the  work  of  Captain  Mahan 
in  America  and  Mr.  Bryce  in  England.  Captain 
Mahan  told  Great  Britain  of  her  wonderful  sea 
power,  and  discovered  some  of  its  elements  of 
weakness.  Mr.  Bryce  went  to  America  and  studied 
their  institutions,  and  produced  a  work  descriptive 


JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

of  them  which  was  without  an  equal  in  our  whole 
history  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  He  gave 
them  praise  where  they  were  entitled  to  praise,  and 
blamed  them  where  they  were  subject  to  blame,  and 
they  were  very  ready  to  follow  his  suggestion  and 
to  go  to  work  to  supply  a  remedy. 

It  was  this  "  teachableness "  of  all  people  who 
spoke  the  English  tongue  that  constituted  their 
great  prospect  for  the  future.  This  English  tongue 
had  done  an  immense  thing  for  them  on  both  sides 
of  the  water.  It  had  welded  them  into  one  homoge 
neous  and  united  people,  speaking  with  one  voice, 
and  acting  with  one  will,  to  work  out  their  destiny, 
and  it  had  done  the  same  thing  for  the  widely  spread 
ing  members  of  the  British  Empire — as  they  had 
had  an  example  in  this  very  year — [cheers] — making 
them  one  people,  united  for  the  common  liberties  of 
all.  [Renewed  cheers.]  And  what  had  it  not  done 
— this  same  English  language — for  all  who  spoke 
it!  It  had  given  them  their  highest  aims  and  their 
highest  ideals.  It  had  taught  them  to  love  liberty, 
and  to  be  devoted  to  law.  [Cheers.]  He  con 
gratulated  the  authors  of  that  Society,  and  all 
authors  of  England  and  America,  upon  the  splendid 
opportunities  open  before  them,  through  the  ever- 
widening  circle  of  the  audience  to  which  they 
addressed  themselves.  He  supposed,  of  all  the 
great  authors  of  one  hundred  or  two  hundred  years 
ago,  there  were  more  of  their  books  published  and 
read  in  two  or  three  years,  at  the  close  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  than  during  the  whole  of  their 


THE  AMBASSADOR  343 

lifetimes.  He  mentioned  Don  Quixote,  The  Pil 
grim's  Progress,  the  Compleat  Angler  and  Robin 
son  Crusoe  as  being  the  most  famous  books  handed 
down  to  the  present  generation.  In  this  connection 
Mr.  Choate  referred  to  the  service  rendered  by  The 
Daily  News  in  its  recent  articles  on  the  best  books 
for  children,  and  quoted  the  verdict  of  the  competi 
tors  for  its  prize  as  illustrating  the  pre-eminence 
still  enjoyed  by  Robinson  Crusoe.  Time,  continued 
Mr.  Choate,  had  sifted  all  literature,  but  ho\*  the 
united  judgment  of  mankind  had  centered  upon 
those  four  books  out  of  all  the  really  wonderful 
books  which  had  been  given  to  the  world,  and  how 
it  had  selected  those  masterpieces  and  given  them 
such  glory,  and  other  valuable  works  had  sunk  into 
insignificance  and  almost  into  oblivion,  it  was  really 
very  hard  to  say.  How  little  pecuniary  benefit  the 
authors  got  from  those  works  the  members  of  that 
club  well  knew,  but  they  won  that  great  harvest  of 
immortality  which  was  given  to  each.  All  that  was 
known  was  that  in  each  case  the  work  was  the  ripe 
fruit  of  a  matured  judgment,  for  none  of  those 
books  was  written  by  young  men.  He  supposed 
every  writer,  when  he  gave  his  work  to  the  public, 
hoped  at  least  that  it  would  survive  him  and  give 
him  fame  in  the  memory  of  men,  even  though  it 
failed  to  give  him  bread.  All  they  could  say  of 
those  four  great  writers,  who  produced  those  four 
great  books,  was  that  each  put  into  his  magnificent 
piece  of  work  the  very  best  efforts  of  his  most 
perfect  genius.  That  was  the  key  to  the  success 


344  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

of  authorship.  Every  author  had  it  within  the 
possibility  that  he  might  win  a  share  in  this  im 
mortality  if  he  followed  the  course  in  which  they 
led  the  way.  And  he  trusted  that  the  members  of 
that  club,  each  one,  would  be  a  competitor  for  a 
share,  for  a  chance,  at  least,  in  this  immortality, 
which  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  to  be  dis 
tributed  as  the  prize,  apparently,  in  the  lottery  of 
the  literary  life.  [Cheers.] 

During  the  delivery  of  an  address  at  the  opening 
of  a  public  library  a  baby  in  the  audience,  at  the 
exact  psychological  moment,  when  Mr.  Choate  was 
referring  to  the  fact  that  special  provision  in  the 
library  was  made  for  children,  raised  its  voice, 
emphatically,  and  almost  drowned  the  words  of  the 
speaker.  When  Mr.  Choate  could  be  heard  he  re 
marked,  " don't  be  disturbed  by  the  baby;  nobody 
knows  better  than  my  Lord  Bishop  (who  was  pre 
siding)  'that  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  suck 
lings  cometh  wisdom.'  " 

At  the  opening  of  a  bazaar  in  aid  of  a  hospital 
in  the  quaint  and  interesting  town  of  Coventry,  the 
scene  of  the  famous  story  of  Lady  Godiva,  Mr. 
Choate  was  accorded  a  hearty  reception.  When  the 
applause  with  which  he  was  greeted  had  subsided, 
he  said: 

When  Lady  Anne  Murray,  last  winter,  asked  him 
to  set  apart  that  day  to  come  to  Coventry  to  open 


THE  AMBASSADOR  345 

that  bazaar,  he  did  so  with  alacrity,  first  because 
he  would  do  anything  which  Lady  Anne  Murray 
ever  asked  him  to  do  [laughter  and  applause] ; 
secondly,  because  he  believed  it  to  be  a  great  and 
good  enterprise;  and  thirdly,  because  it  gave  him 
an  opportunity  of  again  seeing  their  wonderfully 
attractive  old  city.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  Somehow 
he  thought  they  had  little  idea  how  famous  the 
place  they  lived  in  was  in  the  minds  of  people 
thousands  of  miles  away.  They  saw  its  ancient 
beauties  every  day,  and  perhaps  made  light  of  them. 
They  had  all  read  about  Coventry  in  America,  and 
it  was  one  of  the  places  toward  which  American 
visitors  early  turned  their  steps — with  its  far-famed 
ancient  churches,  its  wonderfully  preserved  streets, 
as  they  were  three  or  four  centuries  ago,  and  the 
charming  romance  that  had  hung  about  the  city  for 
the  last  850  years  of  Lady  Godiva  and  her  most 
fascinating  ride  through  the  streets  of  Coventry— 
a  ride  which  no  one  was  ever  permitted  to  see 
[laughter],  and  the  only  man  who  attempted  to  see 
it  was  struck  blind  for  life  upon  the  spot  [renewed 
laughter].  But  conditions  changed,  times  changed, 
and  they  all  changed  with  them;  and  he  supposed 
Coventry  was  a  very  different  place  to-day  from 
what  it  was  in  Lady  Godiva .'s  time,  which,  he  be 
lieved,  preceded  the  Conquest.  Now  Coventry  was 
famous  as  a  great  manufacturing  center.  What  did 
it  not  manufacture?  He  could  enumerate  some  of 
the  things  which  it  did  manufacture — silk,  watches, 
cycles  and  motors;  and  if  the  eminent  lady  whom 


346  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

he  had  mentioned,  or  her  modern  representative, 
selected  from  among  the  neighboring  countesses, 
was  to  ride  through  Coventry  to-day,  it  would  not 
be  on  a  palfry  such  as  she  saddled,  it  would  be  upon 
a  steam  bicycle  or  an  electric  motor,  and  there 
would  be  no  need  to  require  the  people  to  keep 
within  doors,  because  the  busy  hum  of  Coventry 
showed  that  in  the  shops  and  in  the  factories  people 
were  too  busy  even  to  look  out  of  the  windows. 
[Laughter.] 

It  was  his  business  that  day  to  open  the  bazaar. 
He  asked  a  young  lady  that  morning,  who  had  been 
at  work  from  six  to  ten  months  preparing  things 
for  the  exhibition  and  sale,  what  it  was  all  about, 
and  she  replied,  "Well,  I  don't  know,"  so  he  did 
not  get  much  light  from  her.  [Laughter.]  His 
Worship  the  Mayor  having  said  that  he  (Mr. 
Choate)  must  say  something  about  the  occasion, 
let  him  say  something  about  the  hospital — this 
really  ancient  hospital,  which  had  been  for  sixty- 
five  years  in  existence,  which  had  done  so  much, 
and  which  was  certain  to  do  so  much  more,  to 
relieve  misery  and  to  promote  the  comfort  of  the 
people  of  Coventry.  How  it  had  managed  to  keep 
on  foot  and  keep  its  head  above  water  with  the 
demands  which  had  been  made  upon  it  during  the 
past  sixty-five  years  it  was  hard  to  say.  People 
who  were  not  very  anxious  to  give  for  its  aid 
always  had  a  favorite  motto.  They  said:  "The 
Lord  will  provide,"  but  the  Lord  never  provided 
half  so  well  for  others  as  for  those  who  undertook 


THE  AMBASSADOK  347 

to  provide  for  themselves,  and  that  was  what  he 
had  judged  the  hospital  had  done,  from  the  record 
which  he  had  looked  over,  and  the  subscriptions  that 
had  come  in,  not  only  for  the  bazaar,  but  for  the 
support  of  the  hospital  from  time  to  time  during 
the  last  sixty-five  years.  Whenever  things  looked 
particularly  unfortunate  and  gloomy  some  helpful 
friend  would  send  in  his  check  for  £50,  or  £100,  or 
£200,  or  £500,  and  so  the  hospital  had  been  kept  on 
foot.  It  was  said  it  had  been  in  difficulties.  There 
were  no  difficulties  in  the  face  of  that  audience,  in 
the  face  of  the  subscriptions  which  had  been  read 
out  by  the  secretary,  there  were  no  difficulties  which 
could  not  be,  and  would  not  be,  easily  overcome. 

He  wished  to  speak  to  them  of  three  sets  of  people 
who  were  entitled  to  the  special  gratitude  of  the 
citizens  of  Coventry  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  sur 
rounding  districts.  In  the  first  place  there  were  the 
surgeons  and  physicians,  who,  without  stint,  from 
the  beginning  had  given,  without  thought  of  com 
pensation — except  the  compensation  which  consists 
of  relieving  misery  and  doing  good — their  time  and 
skill  and  services  to  the  relief  of  the  patients  in  the 
hospital.  It  was  one  of  the  things  for  which  he 
admired  the  medical  profession,  their  gratuitous 
hospital  work  the  world  over;  and  he  had  heard 
scores  of  them  say  it  was  the  work  which  they 
enjoyed  more  than  any  other  they  did.  The  work 
for  which  they  received  no  pay  was  infinitely  more 
gratifying  to  them  than  the  work  for  which  they 
were  paid.  In  the  next  place  the  men  who  were 


348  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

entitled  to  special  recognition  in  connection  with 
the  hospital  were  the  workingmen  of  Coventry  and 
the  neighborhood  [loud  applause].  It  was  a  com 
paratively  new  thing  for  a  public  hospital  to  be 
taken  up  and  so  largely  sustained  by  the  services 
and  the  contributions  of  the  workingmen.  It  was 
for  their  good  that  the  hospital  existed,  and  in  his 
judgment  it  did  them  infinite  good  to  call  out  their 
public  spirit  in  the  way  it  had  been  called  out,  and 
exercised  in  Coventry  by  their  contributions  so 
freely  and  largely  given  in  support  of  the  hospital. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  The  welfare  of  Coventry,  of 
Warwickshire,  of  England,  depended  upon  the 
welfare  and  prosperity  of  these  workingmen. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  That  was  at  the  bottom  of 
all  national  prosperity,  both  here  and  in  America. 
[Applause.]  It  was  a  splendid  thing  that  these 
workingmen  had  been  doing  in  coming  to  the  sup 
port  of  the  hospital.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  Then 
there  were  the  ladies  of  the  Auxiliary  Committee. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  He  would  like  to  mention  them 
all  by  name  and  to  exhibit  the  photograph  of  each 
one  of  them  to  that  admiring  crowd  [loud  laughter] ; 
but  he  would  not  excite  their  apprehension  in  this 
way.  They  had  been  working  themselves  to  the 
bone  in  getting  ready  for  this  bazaar,  and  he  knew 
they  were  proposing  to  devote  the  next  three  days 
to  it,  and  his  only  hope  was  that  when  they  dragged 
their  remains  home  on  Saturday  night,  after  the 
exhausting  labors  of  the  week,  they  would  carry  with 
them  the  happy  satisfaction  that  the  £4,000  that  was 


THE  AMBASSADOR  349 

needed  for  the  relief  of  the  hospital,  and  to  insure 
its  being  kept  open  for  all  coming  time,  had  been 
secured.  [Applause.] 

He  supposed  that  before  he  sat  down  he  ought  to 
say  something  about  the  bazaar.  [Laughter.] 
Men's  views  differed  very  much  about  bazaars.  He 
had  heard  a  good  many  say  they  never  go  to 
bazaars;  they  drew  the  line  at  bazaars,  and  they 
would  much  rather  give  their  checks  outright  than 
go  and  buy  things  that  were  for  sale  at  bazaars  and 
leave  them  on  the  stalls  or  carry  them  home.  But 
he  noticed  that  the  men  who  said  that  were  not  in 
the  habit  of  sending  in  their  checks.  [Laughter.] 
It  was  very  rarely  done,  if  ever.  He  had  not  had 
time  to  examine  all  the  wonders  which  were  con 
tained  in  these  stalls.  In  the  first  place  the  tre 
mendous  attraction  was — he  had  partial  knowl 
edge  of  it — in  the  stallholders.  [Laughter.]  There 
was  not  a  stall  there  that  it  would  not  be,  in  some 
things,  a  liberal  education  to  go  and  make  a  visit 
to  the  stallholders.  [Laughter.]  And  then  they 
had  such  delightful  things  for  sale.  There  was  not 
anything  on  the  tables  of  the  stalls  which  did  not 
touch  the  heart  of  every  man  and  every  woman — 
Art,  Literature,  Poetry,  Music,  Butterflies.  He  did 
not  know  exactly  what  Butterflies  and  the  Golden 
Butterfly  represented,  but  whatever  they  stood  for 
they  were  there  for  contemplation  and  enjoyment. 
[Laughter.]  There  was  not  anything  to  which  the 
human  mind,  or  the  human  heart,  or  human  body, 
turned  with  satisfaction  that  could  not  be  found 


350  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

exhibited  and  for  sale  on  those  counters.  And 
now  what  was  the  duty  of  the  people  of  Coventry1? 
He  supposed  they  were  all  intensely  impatient — 
he  saw  they  were — that  he  should  sit  down.  ["No! 
No!"]  The  money  was  evidently  burning  in  their 
pockets;  their  great  desire  to  visit  the  stalls  and 
make  purchases  for  themselves,  and  their  children, 
and  their  near  and  their  remote  relatives,  some 
thing  suited  to  the  needs  and  wishes  of  all,  was 
almost  uncontrollable.  [Laughter.]  What  beauti 
ful  Christmas  presents  there  would  be  in  Coventry 
and  the  neighborhood  this  year.  Something  for  all. 
He  did  not  believe  there  was  a  man,  woman  or 
child  in  Coventry  who  would  not  be  supplied  with 
a  delightful  Christmas  gift  in  consequence  of  that 
bazaar.  They  would  find  things  admirably  suited 
for  wedding  presents,  and  the  longer  they  lived  the 
more  frequent  necessity  of  giving  wedding  presents 
became.  [Laughter.]  They  had  a  great  duty  to 
perform  to  support  the  exertions  of  the  Ladies' 
Auxiliary  Committee,  and  to  support  the  hospital, 
which  spoke  so  loudly  for  the  character  and  pros 
perity  and  ambition  of  the  community  and  by-and- 
by,  when  his  Worship  the  Mayor  came  again  a 
year  from  now  to  address  another  crowd  at  another 
bazaar  gathered  for  another  charity,  he  would  have 
left  the  hospital  behind  him,  and  he  would  be  able 
to  say:  "Thank  God,  in  1902  the  hospital  business 
was  finished.  The  £4,000  needed  for  its  support 
and  continuance  was  obtained,  the  ladies  who  were 
so  unsparing  of  themselves  in  achieving  that  great 


THE  AMBASSADOR  351 

success  have  gone  to  rest  [loud  laughter],  and 
everything  promises  well  for  the  future  of  Coven 
try.  "  [Laughter.] 

He  bespoke  for  their  undertaking  all  possible 
success.  How  exactly  he  could  come  amongst  them 
as  a  stranger  he  did  not  know,  but  after  the  kind 
words  spoken  by  the  Mayor  he  did  not  feel  like  a 
stranger.  One  lady  came  to  him  as  he  entered  the 
hall  and  said,  "I  have  two  sons  in  America,"  and 
no  doubt  the  people  of  Coventry  were  represented 
in  that  way  all  through  the  United  States.  There 
was  one  bond  of  union  he  had  not  often  heard 
spoken  of,  which  was  a  very  sympathetic  bond — 
he  meant  that  tie  of  sympathy  which  prevailed 
between  the  workingmen  of  America  and  the  work- 
ingmen  of  England.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  He  be 
lieved  it  to  be  universal  and  deep  seated,  and  so 
long  as  the  wishes  of  the  workingmen  of  the  two 
countries  could  be  ascertained  and  followed,  there 
could  be  nothing  but  friendship  and  amity  between 
them.  [Applause.]  He  thanked  them  very  much 
for  having  listened  to  him,  and  regretted  that  chairs 
were  not  provided,  "in  which  case,"  Mr.  Choate 
said  jokingly,  "I  should  have  been  tempted  to 
occupy  your  attention  for  the  rest  of  the  afternoon 
[laughter],  but  as  it  is  I  bid  you  an  affectionate 
farewell."  [Loud  applause.] 

My  impression  is  that  Mr.  Choate  did  not  indulge 
in  pastoral  affairs  or  athletic  sports,  and  was  in  no 
sense  a  sportsman.  But  it  by  no  means  follows 


352  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

that  he  could  not  talk  on  these  subjects  as  enter 
tainingly  as  though  he  were  their  enthusiastic 
devotee,  at  the  same  time  coloring  his  utterances 
with  those  friendly  hues  that  pictured  England 
and  America  in  loving  embrace.  This  is  illustrated 
in  the  following  brief  address,  delivered  at  a 
Poultry  Show,  over  which  Lord  Dartmouth  (from 
whose  ancestor  Dartmouth  College  takes  its  name) 
presided. 

Mr.  Choate  said  he  had  not  expected  to  make  a 
speech,  but  since  he  had  come  there,  he  said,  an 
envelope  had  been  handed  to  him,  the  seal  of  which 
bore  the  motto  " Blood  is  thicker  than  water." 
Over  that  was  a  crown,  and  beneath  it  the  American 
Eagle  and  the  two  great  flags,  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  and  the  Union  Jack,  came  between  the  two. 
["Hear!  Hear!"]  He  was  not  going  to  say  much 
about  the  American  Eagle.  [Laughter.]  Lord 
Dartmouth,  in  going  through  the  poultry  show, 
called  him  to  look  at  what  he  (Lord  Dartmouth) 
called  the  American  Eagle.  He  obeyed  the  sum 
mons  and  found  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  game 
cock.  [Loud  laughter.]  He  supposed  everybody 
understood  that  that  was  a  guise  which  the  national 
bird  sometimes  took  when  it  was  provoked  by  too 
inquisitive  strangers.  He  represented  a  country 
which,  like  the  county  of  Stafford,  had  still  agricul 
ture  for  its  chief  industry.  Millions  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  were  engaged  in  following  that  great 
pursuit.  They  were  constantly  raising,  by  their 


THE  AMBASSADOR  353 

industry  and  vigor,  more  than  they  had  need  for 
at  home,  and  they  developed  some  of  those  products 
which  Staffordshire  and  Wolverhampton  dealt  in, 
and  sometimes  greatly  needed.  They  had  a  great 
crop  of  iron,  and  a  still  greater  crop  of  coal,  and 
they  raised  cotton  in  abundance  to  cover  their 
backs,  and  wheat  and  sugar  in  abundance  to  fill 
their  bodies.  They  did  not  accomplish  those  things 
for  themselves  alone,  but  with  that  unselfishness 
and  true  spirit  of  self-sacrifice — [laughter] — which 
was  really  the  bottom  plank  of  the  American  char 
acter —  [renewed  laughter] — they  labored  for  the 
good  of  their  fellowmen  throughout  the  world. 
[Loud  applause.]  He  was  sure  that,  on  fair  terms, 
they  would  always  be  ready  to  supply  all  their 
impoverished  neighbors  with  food  to  fill  their 
bodies,  clothes  to  cover  their  backs,  coal  to  warm 
their  houses  and  iron  with  which  to  carry  on  the 
great  industries  of  life.  [Laughter.]  Everything 
he  saw  there  reminded  him  of  his  own  country.  The 
show  was  an  exact  reproduction  of  a  cattle  show 
held  in  every  county  in  America  after  the  harvest 
was  gathered  in,  and  it  compared  well  with  any 
exhibition  he  had  ever  seen.  The  ties  that  united 
the  two  countries  would  never,  he  hoped,  be  broken, 
and  he  was  delighted  to  find  in  the  heart  of  England 
such  a  warm  response  to  their  professions  of  friend 
ship.  He  was  prepared  to  believe  that  no  question 
could  ever  arise  between  the  two  countries  that 
could  interrupt  that  constant  peace  that  had  held 
them  together  for  the  last  eighty-five  years,  that 


354  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

they  would  never  leave  each  other  in  the  lurch,  and 
that  they  would  cultivate  the  same  spirit  of  civili 
zation,  justice  and  freedom  which  was  the  real 
foundation  and  object  of  both  Governments.  [Loud 
applause.] 

Mr.  Choate  was  among  the  number  of  lawyers 
who  took  gentle  equestrian  exercise,  in  the  early 
morning  hours,  in  Central  Park,  but  anything  more 
than  a  moderate  canter  was  beyond  his  aspirations, 
much  less  that  bold  and  reckless  riding  involved  in 
"following  the  hounds/'  Yet  he  was  able,  in  words 
at  least,  to  ride  to  a  finish  with  the  best  of  them. 
At  a  festive  gathering  of  the  Albrighton  Hunt  the 
Chairman,  in  proposing  the  health  of  "His  Excel 
lency  the  American  Ambassador,''  referred  to  him 
as  the  incarnation  of  our  American  cousins,  and 
said  that  if  they  were  Frenchmen  and  French 
women  they  would  all  fall  upon  the  Ambassador's 
neck  and  kiss  him.  Mr.  Choate  replied  as  follows : 

After  hearing  that  glowing  introduction  by  Colonel 
Kenyon-Slaney  he  only  regretted  that  they  were 
not  Frenchmen  and  Frenchwomen.  [Loud  and  pro 
longed  laughter.]  It  was  true  that  he  had  but  one 
neck — [laughter] — but  he  should  be  willing  to  risk 
it  and  incur  that  hazard  that  might  fall  upon  him 
with  the  fall  of  men  and  fall  of  women  that  he  had 
promised.  [Laughter.]  Since  he  left  New  York,  on 
Washington's  birthday,  the  22nd  of  February  last, 
he  had  never  felt  quite  so  homesick  as  at  that 


THE  AMBASSADOR  355 

moment.  [Laughter.]  If  he  could  not  get  back 
and  hide  his  head  in  his  Massachusetts'  home  he 
wished  he  were  back  at  that  home  from  which  he 
came  that  morning.  He  came  under  a  safe  conduct, 
under  a  solemn  pledge  that  not  in  any  circum 
stances  should  he  be  called  upon  to  say  a  word. 
[Laughter.]  But  those  pledges  were  so  easy  to 
give  and  so  hard  to  keep.  [Laughter.]  Americans 
were  always  ready  to  rely  upon  the  word  of  a 
Dartmouth.  [Applause.]  They  had  always  con 
sidered  him  and  his  family  among  the  strongest 
friends  they  had  on  this  side  of  the  water,  but  that 
morning  when  they  rose  from  the  breakfast  table 
he  (Lord  Dartmouth)  told  him  that  he  was  abso 
lutely  safe.  [Laughter.]  He  did  not  know  then 
that  Lord  Dartmouth  had  a  speech  up  his  sleeve. 
He  believed  his  lordship  made  more  speeches  than 
any  other  man  in  England.  He  believed  that  with 
him  it  was  only  necessary  to  drop  a  penny  in  the 
slot,  and  up  came  a  speech.  [Loud  laughter.]  He 
was  not  even  prepared  for  the  glowing  eulogium 
upon  his  country  which  the  gallant  colonel  had  so 
nobly  pronounced.  He  was  exposed  to  two  dangers, 
a  crossfire  which  he  never  expected.  In  the  first 
place  there  was  the  danger  which  he  saw  in  the 
presence  of  the  gentlemen  representatives  of  the 
Press,  who  were  taking  notes,  he  supposed,  for  their 
own  individual  enjoyment  as  they  committed  those 
various  remarks  to  memory.  [Laughter.]  It  was 
an  appalling  danger — [laughter] — especially  for  an 
Ambassador  to  be  exposed  to.  Out  of  every  pos- 


356  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

sible  word  they  would,  of  course,  discover  a  possible 
International  collision.  [Laughter.]  There  was  no 
more  exposed  position  in  which  he  could  possibly 
be  placed  in  front  than  by  their  busy  pencils  and 
constantly  moving  note-books.  And  then  there  was 
a  fire  in  the  rear.  [Laughter.]  He  did  not  know 
until  five  minutes  before  entering  the  tent  that  his 
performance  was  to  be  supervised  by  the  highest 
authority  that  he  recognized  upon  earth.  [Laugh 
ter.]  He  rejoiced  very  much  at  being  present  on 
that  occasion,  at  that  luncheon — so  novel  as  it  was 
to  him,  made  up  of  an  equal  company  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  of  women  and  of  men.  To  their  presence 
they  always  bowed,  and  even  their  bow  was  more 
increasingly  pronounced  and  low.  There  was  a  time 
he  could  remember  when  those  women  figured  only 
as  their  equals — [laughter] — but  the  day  had  at  last 
come  when  they  were  universally  recognized  as  their 
superiors.  [Eenewed  laughter.]  He  thought  his 
safest  plan  between  these  two  crossfires  would  be 
'to  sit  down.  [Laughter.]  But  he  wished  to  say 
a  word  or  two  about  the  peculiar  features  of  the 
occasion  as  they  struck  him.  He  was  not,  and  never 
had  been,  a  puppy-walker.  [Loud  laughter.]  He 
was  one  of  those  very  few  exceptions  in  that  com 
pany  which  even  Captain  Curtis  had  recognized, 
but  he  was  given  to  understand  that  the  puppy- 
walker  was  the  real  foundation  of  the  success  of 
the  Hunt — [applause] — for  without  them  there 
would  be  no  puppies,  and  without  puppies  there 
would  be  no  pack,  and  without  a  pack  where  would 


THE  AMBASSADOR  357 

the  huntsmen  and  huntswomen  be?  [Laughter.] 
He  must  say  one  word  seriously  on  what  he  had 
observed  even  in  his  brief  residence  amongst  the 
English  people.  He  believed  it  indicated  the  great 
good  that  had  come  to  this  country  from  the  insti 
tution  of  hunting,  and  other  kindred  institutions, 
pastimes  and  sports  to  which  this  great  people  were 
given.  They  had  been  engaged  and  indulged  in 
those  sports,  pastimes,  labors,  strengthening  pur 
suits  for  generations,  and  the  result  was  shown  in 
the  toughness  and  fiber  of  the  British  man  and  the 
British  woman.  [Applause.]  They  had  an  example 
the  other  day,  when  a  young  man  from  Cambridge, 
representing  so  splendidly  the  strength  and  vigor 
of  his  country,  led  off  in  that  three-mile  race  and 
maintained  his  lead  to  the  end,  and  came  in  not  at 
all  exhausted.  Now,  as  he  understood  it,  this 
strength  of  manhood,  and  of  womanhood,  which 
showed  itself  in  the  youth  and  the  children  of  this 
nation  was  by  no  means  an  accident.  It  had  come 
from  this  magnificent  outdoor  life  of  theirs  in 
which  they  indulged.  What  seemed  holidays  were 
really  days  for  refreshing  and  invigorating  the 
strength  of  the  nation.  [Applause.]  And  it  was 
obvious  and  perceptible  in  all  ranks  of  the  people 
everywhere  in  England,  so  far  as  he  had  observed 
it.  It  was  no  small  thing,  but  went  very  far  to 
account  for  the  success  of  England  as  a  nation  that 
her  men  and  her  women  had  learned  to  develop 
their  physical  faculties  and,  necessarily,  with  them 
all  their  other  faculties  by  such  sports  and  such 


358  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

industries — might  he  say  so — as  those  to  which  they 
were  to-day  committed.  [Applause.]  He  would 
like  to  import  into  his  country  what  he  had  seen 
there  that  day.  Those  men  and  those  women; 
would  they  go  over  there?  [Laughter.]  He 
thought  both  nations  would  be  the  better  for  it. 
There  was  not  a  man  or  a  woman  within  the  sound  of 
his  voice  who  would  not  be  the  better  and  sounder 
and  happier  by  a  six  months'  residence  in  America, 
and  not  an  American  man  or  woman  who  would  not 
be  better  for  a  six  months'  residence  in  England. 
[Applause.]  He  was  talking  to  one  of  their 
eminent  citizens  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
Albrighton  Hunt  that  day.  He  told  him  he  had 
been  in  America,  and  that,  even  though  he  thought 
he  had  but  one  weakness,  one  infirmity,  the  hospi 
tality  with  which  he  was  everywhere  received  whilst 
in  that  country  made  him  feel  that  one  weakness. 
It  was  that  he  was  not  supplied  with  a  cast-iron 
stomach.  He  (the  speaker),  as  a  representative  of 
his  country  in  England,  suffered  from  the  same 
weakness,  and  he  was  inclined  to  think  that  a  part 
of  the  outfit  of  an  American  Ambassador  should  be 
some  such  cast-iron  arrangement  as  that.  [Laugh 
ter.]  Not  only  in  the  great  city  of  London,  but 
there  in  the  heart  of  England,  where  he  had  ex 
pected  to  find  hardly  an  acquaintance,  he  found 
they  were  not  only  cousins,  as  the  colonel  had  said 
— that  was  a  weak  way  of  putting  it — but  he  felt 
he  was  in  the  presence  that  day  of  a  great  com 
pany  of  250  brothers  and  sisters.  [Applause.] 


THE  AMBASSADOE  359 

Among  the  fly  fishermen,  too,  he  was  just  as 
much  at  home  as  though  of  the  number  who  indulge 
in  piscatorial  sports,  while  it  is  probably  true  that 
he  was  a  stranger  to  the  art  of  fly  casting.  Never 
theless,  one  would  never  imagine  it  from  his  genial 
talk,  so  appropriate  and  so  attractive,  to  the  fly 
casting  experts  who  listened  to  the  following  ad 
dress  made  as  Chairman  of  a  gathering  of  the  Fly 
Fisher's  Club  on  March  11,  1902. 

" Gentlemen: — It  is  my  privilege  now  to  propose 
to  you  the  most  important  toast  of  the  evening — 
'The  Fly  Fishers'  Club'— [cheers]— or  'Your  noble 
selves' — a  sentiment  nearer  and  dearer  to  your 
hearts  than  any  other  can  possibly  be.  In  doing 
so,  I  must  be  allowed  to  preface  my  remarks  with 
a  word  of  apology.  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  have 
a  great  grudge  against  Lord  Denbigh,  who,  unfor 
tunately,  is  not  here  to-night,  but  who  is  directly 
responsible  for  the  predicament  in  which  both  you 
and  I  find  ourselves — a  body  of  distinguished 
experts  presided  over  by  one  who  is  no  expert  at 
all.  [Laughter.]  He  began  fishing  for  me  some 
months  ago,  when  I  was  enjoying  myself  in  my 
native  country  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
entirely  guiltless  of  such  an  indiscretion  as  this. 
[Renewed  laughter.]  He  cast  about  me  on  all 
sides  all  sorts  of  alluring  and  seductive  flies— 
[laughter] — but  I  refused  to  rise  to  any  of  them. 
[Continued  laughter.]  But,  with  that  patience  and 
perseverance  so  characteristic  of  the  craft,  he  kept 


360  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

on  fishing.  Nothing  would  satisfy  him  until  he  had 
accomplished  the  object  that  seemed  to  be  so  near 
to  his  heart.  He  fished  with  a  most  wonderful 
astuteness  and  skill,  because  he  had  not  the  least 
idea  whether  he  would  find  me  on  the  Connecticut, 
the  Hudson,  the  Potomac  or  the  James,  as  I  was 
moving  freely  to  and  fro  across  them  ail.  [Laugh 
ter.]  At  last,  in  an  unwary  moment,  I  yielded  to 
his  seductions.  I  took  the  fly  and  swallowed  the 
hook,  and  after  many  a  struggle  he  landed  me 
safely.  What  an  unexampled  achievement  for  a  fly 
fisher  was  that — standing  here  in  London,  at  the 
very  threshold  of  your  club,  with  an  elongated  rod 
and  line,  angling  for  and  capturing  a  strange  fish 
of  from  thirteen  to  fourteen  stone — [laughter] — 
playing  with  him  through  three  thousand  miles  of 
water — [laughter] — and  landing  him  at  last  safely 
on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  for  your  entertainment. 
[Continued  laughter.]  And  a  very  sorry  enter 
tainment  I  am  afraid  you  will  find  it.  ["No."] 
I  have  heard  the  old  story  of  Washington  throwing 
a  sovereign  across  the  Atlantic,  but  I  never  heard 
of  such  a  haul  as  that  by  any  angler,  professional 
or  amateur.  Speaking  as  only  a  fish  could  speak, 
as  soon  as  I  quite  recovered  my  breath,  I  protested 
to  him  that  I  did  not  belong  to  your  tabernacle — 
[loud  laughter] — but  I  found  him  as  cunning  and 
wily  in  the  management  of  tabernacles  as  he  was 
with  the  rod  and  line — [laughter] — for  he  said:  'I 
shall  keep  the  door  of  this  tabernacle  open  until 
you  come  in.'  [Laughter.]  *  There  is  nothing  that 


THE  AMBASSADOR  361 

Americans  like  so  much  as  the  open  door. '  [Laugh 
ter.]  He  went  on  to  say  that  from  his  experience 
in  the  management  of  all  kinds  of  tabernacles,  if 
the  people  on  the  inside  would  only  hold  the  door 
open  wide  enough,  and  long  enough,  those  who  still 
lingered  on  the  outside  would  be  sure  to  come  in 
sooner  or  later,  and  in  I  came.  [Laughter.]  Al 
though  not  an  expert,  I  cannot  disavow  the  pos 
session  of  some  of  the  qualities  which  go  to  the 
creation  of  an  expert.  I  have  heard  that  the  true 
foundation  of  the  angler's  art  and  skill  is,  first, 
patience,  and,  secondly,  veracity  in  telling  the  story 
of  his  achievements.  [Laughter.]  Well,  if  a  long 
life  spent  in  the  practice  of  law,  with  a  brief 
supplement  of  diplomacy,  has  not  qualified  me  in 
both  patience  and  veracity,  how  could  I  possibly 
hope  to  attain  either?  [Laughter.]  Now  I  have 
this  skill,  that  I  can  stand  and  cast  my  fly  and 
fish  all  day  without  catching  anything;  but  such 
rises!  such  nibbles!  such  bites!  I  believe  that  is 
regarded  as  the  supreme  felicity  of  the  fly  fisher. 
[Laughter.]  The  fish,  if  they  come,  add  a  little 
to  the  pleasure,  but,  after  all,  they  are  merely  an 
incident.  [Laughter.]  You  get,  without  them, 
that  charming  contact  with  nature,  the  sun  and  air, 
earth,  sky  and  water,  and  everything  that  con 
tributes  to  the  health,  appetite  and  digestion  of 
man,  and  so,  perhaps,  I  share  with  some  of  those 
who  sit  before  me — I  will  not  say  the  majority,  but 
with  some  of  them — this  faculty  of  being  ready  to 
fish,  but  unable  to  reap  all  the  possible  rewards. 


362  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

[Laughter.]  But  those  fish  that  we  did  not  catch 
are  always  the  best  there  were.  [Laughter.]  They 
beat  the  record  of  all  the  salmon,  the  trout,  the 
grayling  and  the  bass  that  ever  have  been  landed 
upon  dry  ground.  The  fish  that  we  did  not  catch — 
there  is  no  limit  to  their  number,  their  size,  their 
weight,  their  measure  or  their  color.  [Laughter.] 
Yes,  gentlemen,  the  fish  that  we  did  not  catch  are 
like  the  speeches  which  after-dinner  orators  make 
on  their  way  home  in  the  cab,  or  even  when  they 
have  got  safely  to  bed — [laughter] — they  are  a  good 
deal  better  than  any  speeches  we  really  have  ever 
made  or  heard;  so  that  the  author  of  the  old 
proverb,  whoever  he  was — I  hope  it  was  not  Solo 
mon — was  not  so  wise  after  all,  when  he  said  that 
there  are  as  good  fish  in  the  sea  and  the  rivers  as 
ever  were  caught.  He  made  a  mistake.  He  should 
have  accepted  an  amendment,  and  said  there  are 
always  better  fish  in  the  sea  and  the  rivers  than 
ever  were  caught.  [Laughter.]  Well,  I  will  tell 
you  briefly  the  three  inducements  that  Lord 
Denbigh  held  out  to  me  when  exercising  the  wiles 
and  charms  of  his  persuasion  to  induce  me  to 
stand  here  to-night.  He  said,  in  the  first  place, 
what  I  have  already  realized,  that  I  should  find 
myself  in  the  company  of  the  jolliest  and  healthiest 
set  of  men  in  Great  Britain — ["hear,  hear,"  and 
laughter] — assembled  once  in  the  year,  reposing 
from  their  great  labors — [laughter] — meeting  for 
the  purpose  of  mutual  admiration  and  mutual 
glorification,  to  tell  fish  stories,  to  sing  and  drink 


THE  AMBASSADOR  363 

toasts  till  the  small  hours,  and  forget  all  the  cares 
of  life,  past,  present  and  future.  [Laughter.]  And 
when  I  look  down  upon  this  sea  of  faces,  all  so 
ruddy  and  contented — shall  I  say  self-satisfied? — 
and  when  I  look  over  this  delightful  program, 
interspersed  with  songs,  recitals  and  stories,  with 
here  and  there  a  speech,  I  know  that  Lord  Denbigh 
was  not  mistaken.  I  know  that  I  have  fallen  among 
true  disciples  of  the  gentle,  divine  and  skilled 
angler  who  said,  in  words  of  which  you  reflect  the 
spirit  here  to-night — 

11  'Man's  life  is  but  vain;  for  'tis  subject  to  pain 

And  sorrow,  and  short  as  a  bubble; 
"Pis  a  hodge-podge  of  business  and  money  and  care, 

And  care  and  money  and  trouble. 
But  we'll  take  no  care  when  the  weather  is  fair, 

Nor  will  we  vex  now  though  it  rain, 
We'll  banish  all  sorrow  and  sing  till  to-morrow, 

And  angle  and  angle  again.' 

"This  spirit  of  the  angler,  happy  in  the  passing 
hour,  is  as  old  as  the  pastime  of  fishing.  Who  can 
doubt  that  the  Persian  poet  was  a  fisherman,  and 
that  it  was  at  an  anglers'  dinner  he  sang — 

"  'Ah!    Fill  the  cup!  what  boots  it  to  repeat. 
How  time  is  slipping  underneath  our  feet? 

Unborn  to-morrow  and  dead  yesterday. 
Why  fret  about  them,  if  to-day  be  sweet?' 

"The  next  inducement  Lord  Denbigh  threw  out 
was  that  it  was  intended  as  a  compliment,  through 


364  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

me,  to  the  fly  fishers  of  America — 'a  great,  growing 
and  glorious  company  of  sportsmen.'  [Applause.] 
Well,  this  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  that  fish 
or  fishing  of  any  kind  could  be  made  a  bond  of 
union  between  any  two  countries  in  the  world. 
[Laughter.]  Since  we  became  an  independent 
nation  the  fisheries  have  been  a  fishbone  of  conten 
tion  between  our  two  nations,  and,  even  before  we 
were  born  as  a  nation,  between  us  and  the  French. 
The  fisheries  questions  never  would  stay  settled. 
We  have  had  negotiations,  protocols,  treaties,  arbi 
trations  and  awards  about  them,  and  still  they 
remain  open  questions.  In  fact,  the  diplomats  of 
the  two  countries  might  well  think  their  occupation 
gone,  if  no  fishing  question  remained  to  be  settled. 
And  now  the  fly  fishers  would  dispose  of  them  all 
at  once.  Lord  Denbigh's  idea  is  that  in  inducing 
me  to  come  here  he  can  get  the  fly  fishers  of  the 
two  continents  to  intertwine  their  rods  and  lines 
across  the  sea,  and  so  promote  the  union  of  the 
two  great  peoples.  [Applause.]  Let  me  say  a 
serious  word  about  the  fly  fishers  of  America,  and, 
generally,  about  the  sportsmen  of  America.  A 
stranger  has  to  be  in  England  some  years  before 
he  can  fully  realize  the  influence  of  sport  of  all 
kinds  upon  the  life  and  welfare  of  the  people,  how 
deeply  and  powerfully  it  affects  all  their  domestic 
and  social  life,  their  legislation,  their  jurisprudence, 
their  industries  and  their  business  of  every  kind. 
On  our  side  of  the  ocean,  until  recent  years,  we 
had  but  very  little  sport  of  any  sort.  Our  Puritan 


THE  AMBASSADOR  365 

fathers  were  not  quite  so  bad  as  Macaulay's  Puritan 
who  prohibited  bear-baiting,  not  because  of  the  pain 
it  gave  to  the  bear,  but  because  of  the  pleasure  it 
gave  to  the  spectators;  but  they  were  a  sober,  a 
serious,  a  hard-working  and  a  self-denying  people, 
and  for  the  first  two  centuries  almost  no  kind  of 
sport  was  cultivated  among  them.  Our  ancestors 
took  life  quite  too  seriously  to  mingle  work  and 
play  in  your  good  old  English  way.  But  I  am 
happy  to  say,  and  you  will  be  happy  to  hear,  that 
sports  of  all  kinds  in  the  last  fifty  years  have  been 
advancing  by  leaps  and  bounds  throughout  America 
—[applause] — and  that  they  are  beginning  to  have, 
and  in  a  still  greater  measure  are  bound  to  have  in 
the  future,  an  immense  effect  upon  the  life,  happi 
ness  and  welfare  of  the  people.  Before  long  you 
may  find  the  fly  fishers  of  America  not  unworthy 
rivals.  I  will  not,  however,  claim  that  our  American 
fish  can  ever  rival  in  astuteness  and  cunning  the 
inhabitants  of  your  old  English  waters  that  have 
been  fished  for  so  many  ages.  That  would,  at  any 
rate,  take  'centuries  of  civilization'  and  of  that 
higher  education  which  your  fish  have  received  at 
the  hands  of  yourselves  and  your  fathers.  Lord 
Denbigh  threw  out  one  more  inducement.  He  said 
that  the  members  of  the  Fly  Fishers'  Club,  although 
they  think  they  know  everything  about  fishing, 
especially  fly  fishing,  are  beginning  to  look  across 
the  Atlantic  for  light  and  leading  on  this  interesting 
subject,  and,  perhaps  (he  said),  I  should  be  able  to 
give  some  idea  of  what  is  going  on  on  our  side  of 


366  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

the  water  for  the  promotion  of  the  fishing  industry, 
including  fly  fishing  and  the  other  branches  of  the 
sport,  as  well  as  in  the  direction  of  the  substantial 
feeding  of  mankind.  Well,  gentlemen,  it  is  too  late 
now,  at  this  point  of  my  address,  to  enter  into  that. 
I  should  have  opened  with  this  if  I  had  wanted  to 
give  you  these  statistics.  [Laughter.]  I  am  afraid 
that  they  would  not  be  very  good  bait  at  this  part 
of  the  voyage.  But  let  me  say,  very  briefly,  that 
much  is  being  done  on  our  side  of  the  water 
towards  the  breeding,  hatching,  transportation,  dis 
tribution  and  the  care  of  these  fish  to  which  you 
are  so  devoted.  Our  Republican  people  do  not 
object  so  very  much  to  spending  public  money  for 
so  glorious  an  object — ["hear,  hear"] — and  we 
have  in  most  of  the  forty-five  States  a  Fishery 
Commission,  maintained  at  the  public  expense,  and 
paid  for  by  general  taxation.  [Applause.]  Above 
them  all,  but  acting  in  harmony  with  them,  is  the 
United  States  Fishery  Commission,  maintained  by 
the  Federal  Government  at  an  expense  of  some 
thing  like  £100,000  a  year.  ["Hear!  Hear!"] 
These,  acting  in  harmony,  do  a  vast  deal  of  good 
work.  The  United  States  Fishery  Commission 
alone  has  established  twenty-five  stations,  scattered 
all  along  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  for  the 
hatching,  preservation  and  distribution  of  fish,  from 
which  they  send  forth  to  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  to  this  country,  and  to  other  countries  which 
call  for  them,  trout — rainbow,  golden,  brook,  lake, 
black,  spotted,  steel-head,  Scotch,  sea  and  Loch 


THE  AMBASSADOR  367 

Leven.  The  methods  of  distribution  of  these  fish 
by  almost  countless  millions  are  of  a  unique  and 
almost  perfect  kind.  The  Commission  owns  a  con 
siderable  number  of  full-sized  cars  adapted  to  the 
purpose,  with  tanks  and  every  other  apparatus 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  lives  of  the 
fish.  They  are  moved  by  the  railroad  companies, 
many  of  them  free  of  cost,  so  much  are  these  com 
panies  interested  in  this  pursuit — ["hear,  hear"] 
—and  these  cars  last  year  traveled  138,000  miles. 
No  doubt  you  think  we  are  always  doing  everything 
on  a  big  scale  in  America,  but  it  is  the  fact  that 
in  1899  they  distributed  through  forty-five  States 
and  four  territories  46,000,000  salmon  (eggs  and 
fish),  13,000,000  trout,  4,600,000  grayling,  and 
385,000,000  perch.  Besides  the  100,000,000  distrib 
uted  by  cars,  955,000,000  were  planted  by  detached 
messengers,  so  that  a  great  deal  is  being  done  in 
the  way  of  restocking  old  rivers,  and  in  other 
directions.  I  have  read  that  in  the  good  old 
Colonial  days  the  rivers  of  Massachusetts  swarmed 
with  salmon,  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  necessary 
to  pass  a  law  for  the  protection  of  apprentices, 
enacting  that  they  should  not  be  fed  on  salmon  more 
than  three  days  in  the  week.  [Laughter.]  More 
over,  fish  are  now  transported  into  rivers,  streams 
and  lakes  which  were  utterly  guiltless  of  any  such 
varieties  before.  The  interesting  experiment  is  also 
indulged  in  of  tagging  salmon,  showing  the  date 
and  place,  when  and  where  they  were  put  in,  and 
when  they  are  taken  out — two,  three,  or  five  years 


368  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

afterwards,  their  travels  and  habits  in  the  mean 
time  are  partly  accounted  for.  There  is  such  a 
thing,  too,  as  an  accidental  planting.  Bozeman 
Creek,  in  Montana,  was  found  to  be  full  of  the 
finest  steel-head  trout,  resulting  from  a  can  of  fry 
having  been  accidentally  upset  into  the  creek  a  few 
years  before  by  the  jolting  of  a  wagon.  I  should 
exhaust  your  patience  if  I  went  into  any  further 
details.  ["No!  No!"]  These  statistics,  dull  as 
they  are,  are  all  matter  of  record,  and  these  various 
commissions  are  producing  a  literature  for  the 
instruction  of  fishermen  throughout  the  world, 
which,  I  am  sure,  will  be  of  immense  value ;  and  if 
in  the  library  of  the  Fly  Fishers'  Club  there  should 
be  found  some  vacant  places,  which  some  of  these 
books  specially  adapted  to  your  use  could  fill,  I 
should  be  most  happy  to  be  made  the  medium  of 
seeking  for  them  in  the  various  States.  [Applause.] 
Now,  gentlemen,  I  will  take  my  seat  and  give  way  to 
that  torrent  of  mirth  and  merriment  which  I  am 
sure  is  awaiting  you.  I  thank  you  very  much  for 
the  great  honor  you  have  conferred  upon  me.  I  am 
sorry  that  I  am  so  much  of  a  duffer — ["no,  no"] — 
and  I  am  also  very  sorry  that  I  have  not  any  fishing 
stories  to  tell  you,  for  I  should  have  liked  above  all 
things  to  have  outstripped  anything  that  has  ever 
been  told  at  any  dinner  or  meeting  of  this  club." 
[Cheers.] 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Social  and  Political  Education 
League,  at  University  College,  to  listen  to  a  lecture 


THE  AMBASSADOR  369 

by  Sir  Alfred  Lyall  on  "Race  and  Religion,"  it 
was  his  duty,  as  President-elect,  to  propose  a  vote 
of  thanks  to  Mr.  Leonard  Courtney  for  presiding. 
It  is  only  possible,  of  course,  to  surmise  that  the 
lecture  was  learned  and  profound,  not  to  say 
soporific  in  its  tendency,  and  that  during  its 
delivery  Mr.  Choate's  sense  of  humor  provoked 
cogitation  on  the  duties  of  a  presiding  officer,  one 
of  which  was  to  keep  awake.  In  moving  a  vote  of 
thanks  he  remarked: 

That  probably  there  were  no  people  of  any  race 
or  religion  in  any  age  who,  when  more  than  two 
or  three  were  gathered  together,  had  not  a  presiding 
officer.  They  knew  how  Adam  presided  in  Paradise 
— [laughter] — how  Noah  presided  in  the  ark  when 
his  company  had  assembled — [laughter] — and  how 
Moses  presided  in  the  wilderness.  [Laughter.] 
He  ventured  to  say  that,  from  the  beginning  till 
now,  no  presiding  officer  had  better  discharged  his 
functions  than  their  chairman.  [Laughter.]  He 
began  by  effacing  himself.  They  heard  him  admit 
complete  vacuity  of  mind.  [Laughter.]  As  the 
lecture  proceeded,  they  observed  how  admirably  he 
performed  his  functions.  He  kept  awake — [laugh 
ter] — and  kept  his  ears  wide  open.  When  the 
lecture  concluded,  his  mind,  which  had  been  vacant 
before  the  discourse  was  absolutely  full,  and  he 
(Mr.  Choate)  apprehended  that  Mr.  Courtney  was 
ready  to  continue  the  lecture.  ["Hear,  hear,"  and 
laughter.] 


370  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

At  a  Thanksgiving  Day  celebration  his  story  of 
Lord  Coleridge  and  Mr.  Evarts  (then  Secretary 
of  State)  on  a  visit  to  Mount  Vernon;  also  his 
felicitous  application  of  the  story  of  Cinderella  to 
America  were  happy  inspirations  and,  evidently, 
fully  appreciated.  Replying  to  a  toast  in  his  honor 
he  said: 

This  was  the  only  occasion  in  the  year  when 
Americans  in  London  were  able  to  meet  together 
with  their  wives  and  daughters — [laughter] — and 
celebrate  this  great  national  festival.  The  Ameri 
can  colony  was  one  of  the  greatest  colonies  that 
was  ever  planted  under  the  British  flag.  As  they 
knew,  in  the  twelve  years  that  proceeded  the  Long 
Parliament,  there  was  a  perfect  exodus  from  Eng 
land  to  New  England.  Twenty  thousand  was  the 
number  that  history  recorded  as  making  that  fate 
ful  voyage,  and  he  understood  that  in  and  about 
London  there  were  twenty  thousand  Americans 
who  had  returned  to  stay — [laughter  and  cheers]— 
out  of  whom  the  American  Society  had  been  formed. 
They  had  returned  after  250  years  as  prodigal  sons 
of  England.  [Laughter.]  They  did  not  claim  in 
that  capacity  the  fatted  calf,  because  they  would 
be  contented  with  nothing  less  than  the  stalled  ox. 
[Laughter.]  Acknowledging  the  compliments  which 
the  Lord  Chief  Justice  had  paid  him,  he  said  the 
three  Lord  Chief  Justices  in  succession  had  made 
themselves  beloved  by  the  American  people,  and 
all  three  had  been  welcome  visitors  on  their  shores. 


"THE    SUCCESS    OF    THE    SHOW    SEASON   IN    LONDON. 

MR.  CHOATE  AND  His  EAGLE" 


THE  AMBASSADOR  371 

He  referred  to  Lord  Coleridge,  Lord  Russell  of 
Killowen  and  the  present  Lord  Chief  Justice.  In 
regard  to  Lord  Coleridge  he  related  an  anecdote. 
When  taken  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  visit  the 
tomb  and  home  of  Washington,  at  Mount  Vernon, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  Lord  Coleridge  in 
quired  if  it  was  really  true  that  Washington  threw 
a  dollar  across  the  Potomac.  The  Secretary  of 
State  said,  "I  think  so,  because  you  know  a  dollar 
would  go  much  farther  then  than  it  will  now." 
[Laughter.]  Lord  Coleridge  afterwards  returned 
to  the  question,  and  asked,  "Do  you  think  it  pos 
sible  that  Washington  could  have  thrown  a  dollar 
across  the  Potomac ?"  "Why,  certainly,"  said  the 
Secretary,  "because  we  know  he  threw  a  sovereign 
across  the  Atlantic."  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  Mr. 
Choate  went  on  to  propose  "Thanksgiving  Day." 
America  has  a  great  deal  to  be  thankful  for,  and, 
more  than  all  other  things,  to-day  she  had  to  be 
thankful  for  the  happy  relations  in  which  she  stood 
with  all  the  great  nations  of  the  world.  [Cheers.]  / 
He  read  the  other  day  in  the  press  that  America  had 
at  last  taken  her  place  in  the  family  of  nations. 
Why,  they  had  an  idea  at  home  that  she  had  always 
been  there — ["hear,  hear"] — that  she  had  always 
been  seated  at  the  family  hearth.  In  fact,  he  re 
garded  her  as  a  sort  of  Cinderella  in  the  family  of 
nations.  During  her  childhood  and  youth  she  was, 
perhaps,  a  little  ignored  and  neglected  by  her  elder 
sisters,  but  now  they  appreciated  her  merits  at  their 
full  worth.  She  found  a  fairy  godmother,  who 


372  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

advised  her  to  lay  aside  the  homely  garments  in 
which  she  had  been  fledged,  and  put  on  the  full 
panoply  of  armor  to  which  she  was  entitled,  and 
to  step  forth  into  the  assembly  of  nations.  She  did 
so,  and  the  result  had  been  that  not  only  was  she 
received  with  friendship,  but  homage,  and  the 
slippers  on  her  feet  were  objects  of  general  ad 
miration.  [Laughter  and  cheers.] 

At  another  Thanksgiving  Day  celebration  he 
said: 

When  he  entered  that  room  he  was  a  good  deal 
at  a  loss  to  know  how  he  could  begin  his  response 
to  this  sentiment,  and  so  he  gave  himself  away  to 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  women  in  that  com 
pany,  whom  he  told  he  should  say  whatever  she  bade 
him  say.  [Laughter.]  Dealing  with  ordinary 
women,  that  would  have  been  a  very  rash  offer 
considering  his  official  position  [laughter],  but  she 
was  as  wise  as  she  was  patriotic,  and  she  gave  him 
a  sentiment  which,  he  thought,  touched  the  keynote 
of  that  occasion,  which  would  meet  with  a  warm 
response  from  every  man  and  woman  in  this  coun 
try,  and  from  almost  every  man  and  woman  in 
England  and  America.  She  said,  and  he  gave  the 
sentiment  as  a  quotation,  "Tell  them,  let  England 
and  America  clasp  hands  across  the  sea,  and  the 
peace  of  the  world  will  be  absolutely  secure." 
[Loud  cheers.]  Since  they  assembled  last  year  to 
celebrate  this  festival,  they  had  expanded — a  little. 


THE  AMBASSADOE  373 

[Laughter  and  cheers.]  Geography  was  the  most 
progressive  of  all  sciences,  especially  English  and 
American  geography.  [Laughter.]  Last  year  their 
brave  Admirals  Dewey,  Sampson  and  Schley 
[cheers]  altered  the  map  of  the  world,  and  that 
night,  from  the  undisputed  boundary  of  Alaska, 
washed  by  the  frozen  ocean  on  the  west,  to  the 
sunny  shores  of  Puerto  Eico  on  the  east,  all  Ameri 
cans  were  celebrating  this  festival  of  the  home  and 
the  family  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  [Cheers.]  He 
felt  that,  at  the  outset  of  their  proceedings,  they 
ought  to  express,  in  some  becoming  manner,  their 
sympathy  with  the  anxieties  and  the  sorrows  of  the 
people  of  this  metropolis,  and  of  this  nation,  of 
which  it  was  the  heart  and  center,  at  this  very 
trying  hour  of  their  history.  [Cheers.]  Surely  his, 
heart  would  be  hard,  indeed,  who  could  look  around 
in  this  city  and  realize  unmoved  that  almost  every 
family  of  their  acquaintance  had  one  or  more  of  its, 
members  exposed  to  the  horrors  and  perils  of  this 
awful  war  that  was  being  carried  on  in  South 
Africa.  ["Hear!  Hear!"]  Surely  they  could  but 
give  their  sympathy,  and  feel  not  only  for  the 
soldiers  who  were  thus  exposed  to  suffering,  but 
also  for  the  bleeding  hearts  of  those  whom  they  had 
left  behind  them  as  they  had  gone  forth  to  follow 
and  maintain  and  defend  the  flag  they  loved,  and 
the  Queen  they  adored.  [Cheers.]  Fortunately, 
Englishmen  had  not  far  to  look  for  a  living  proof 
of  this  human  sympathy  with  which  they  met  them. 
[Cheers.]  Neutral  as  their  nation  must  be  in  the 


374  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

great  struggle  that  was  going  on,  the  heart  of 
woman  could  not  be  neutral.  [Cheers.]  If  they 
should  undertake  to  neutralize  her,  they  would  spoil 
her,  and  these  American  women  in  London  who  had 
fitted  up  this  hospital  ship,  who  had  appealed  to 
their  countrymen  and  women,  here  and  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic  to  come  to  their  aid,  had,  in 
his  judgment,  been  doing  a  deed  which  would  live 
for  all  time  as  a  blessing  to  their  common  humanity. 
[Cheers.]  And  the  presence  of  these  nurses  and 
surgeons,  who  were  giving  their  time  and,  perhaps, 
their  lives  to  this  noble  service  of  sympathy,  lent 
an  additional  charm  to  that  banquet.  [Cheers.] 
He  read  only  yesterday  in  the  papers  a  letter  from 
Florence  Nightingale  [cheers],  written  from  her 
retirement  in  the  home  of  her  old  age,  contributing 
the  little  that  her  means  afforded  for  some  cause 
exactly  kindred  to  this,  and  he  could  not  but  think, 
when  he  saw  these  young  women,  with  their  nurses ' 
uniforms,  entering  the  room,  that  her  example  had 
been  an  inspiration  all  around  the  world  for  this 
great  and  good  work  of  women  for  the  relief  of 
the  sick,  the  wounded  and  the  dying  under  what 
ever  flag  and  on  whichever  side.  [Cheers.]  Let 
him  say  one  word  more.  They  would  remember 
that  in  their  Spanish  war,  as  they  called  it,  Great 
Britain,  by  its  Government,  did  their  people  a  great 
service  in  taking  care  of  their  interests  throughout 
the  Spanish  dominions.  [Cheers.]  Following  that 
example,  seeking  to  reciprocate  that  act  of  kindness 
and  humanity,  they  also  had  endeavored,  through 


THE  AMBASSADOR  375 

their  Consul  at  Pretoria,  to  be  the  medium  of  relief 
and  of  good  tidings  to  the  prisoners  confined  there. 
[Cheers.]  Unfortunately,  the  local  authorities 
there  seemed  to  think  it  was  not  quite  the  proper 
thing  to  allow  them  to  do  so,  and  for  a  few  days 
their  efforts  in  that  direction  had  been  prohibited. 
But  they  could  not  but  still  hope  that  that  pro 
hibition  would  by-and-by  be  removed,  so  that  they 
could  be  permitted,  according  to  humane  laws  and 
the  usages  of  all  modern  warfare,  to  go  on  and 
do  this  errand  of  mere  humanity.  [Cheers.]  They 
came  together  that  day,  by  the  President's  order, 
to  render  thanks  for  the  mercies  and  blessings  that 
had  been  showered  upon  them  during  the  past  year. 
If  he  undertook  to  tell  them  only  half  the  truth 
about  the  immense  material  prosperity  and  happi 
ness  which  prevailed  throughout  their  country,  they 
would  set  him  down  for  a  great  American  brag. 
[Laughter.]  Their  fields,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  had  been  blessed  again  with  a  most  abun 
dant  harvest,  and  if  only  those  in  other  lands  who 
were  provided  for  by  the  produce  of  their  fields 
would  give  them  their  stanch  friendship  in  return, 
if  they  would  but  kiss  the  hands  that  fed  them,  they 
would  be  at  peace  and  in  everlasting  friendship  with 
almost  all  mankind.  [Cheers.]  Then,  again,  they 
stood  to-day  as  one  of  the  great  manufacturing 
nations  of  the  world.  Did  they  read  that  story, 
only  two  months  ago,  of  the  American  bridge 
at  Atbara?  Did  they  read  how  the  enthusiasm 
of  Kitchener,  the  Sirdar,  himself  was  warmed 


376  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

by  the  achievements  of  their  American  en 
gineers?  Did  they  read  in  an  article  in  the 
Times  of  London  that  before  this  year  should  come 
to  an  end  there  would  be  sixty  American  locomo 
tives  running  on  English  railways?  And  did  they 
know  that  they  were  laying  down  steel  rails  and 
furnishing  locomotives  to  many  of  the  great  nations 
of  the  world?  Another  hopeful  incident  was  the 
prospect  of  a  speedy  revival  of  their  commercial 
marine.  They  had  been  long  enough  waiting  for 
it.  It  was  once  the  pride  of  their  nation,  the 
vehicle  of  its  commerce,  and  the  nursery  of  its 
sea  power.  They  hoped  it  would  soon  be  again. 
[Cheers.]  The  carrying  trade  was  the  white  man's 
burden,  and  they  must  do  their  full  and  fair  share 
of  that.  But  there  was  one  interest  greater  than 
all  these;  the  supreme  interest  of  America  to-day, 
as  it  always  had  been,  was  the  preservation  of 
peace  with  all  countries  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
[Cheers.]  Their  commercial  rivalry,  their  vigorous 
competition,  might  be  thought  by  some  to  be 
inconsistent  with  this  ever-desired  preservation  of 
peace.  It  was  not  so  at  all.  And  so  let  them  add 
to  their  thanksgiving,  their  jubilations  for  the  great 
blessings  that  had  been  showered  upon  them,  a 
prayer  for  the  constant  preservation  of  peace  on 
earth  and  of  good  will  among  all  mankind. 
[Cheers.] 

On  July  5,  1901,  he  delighted  his  hearers  by  a 
humorous   reference   to   the   exclusion   of  women, 


THE  AMBASSADOB  377 

except  behind  an  iron  grating,  from  witnessing 
the  proceedings  of  the  House  of  Commons.  He 
said: 

As  he  had  already  that  afternoon  addressed 
some  2,000  of  his  countrymen  and  countrywomen— 
[laughter] — it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  he 
would  address  any  lengthy  collective  remarks  to  this 
insignificant  number  of  the  inferior  sex.  [Laugh 
ter.]  He  preferred  to  lift  up  his  eyes  to  the 
galleries  (where  the  ladies  were  assembled),  from 
which  came  his  strength.  [Laughter.]  Nothing,  to 
his  mind,  exhibited  so  glaringly  as  this  spectacle  and 
overruling  presence  the  difference  between  the 
British  and  American  Constitutions.  [Laughter.] 
If  they  were  at  the  House  of  Commons  at  West 
minster,  no  man  on  the  floor  would  be  permitted  to 
open  his  lips  till  all  that  gay  scene  which  presented 
itself  from  the  galleries  was  screened  away — 
[laughter] — until  a  solid  and  impervious  grating 
of  iron  shut  the  ladies  off  from  view.  [More  laugh 
ter.]  For  it  was  an  open  secret  of  the  British 
Constitution  that  if  a  member  of  Parliament  when 
he  rose  to  speak  caught  sight  of  a  woman — [laugh 
ter] — if  it  were  but  the  pupil  of  a  single  eye,  or 
the  gleam  of  her  top-knot — [more  laughter] — his 
ideas  became  so  utterly  distracted  that  the  business 
of  the  House  could  not  proceed.  [Laughter  and 
cheers.]  Whereas,  to  the  average  American,  such  a 
presence  was  nothing  less  than  an  inspiration. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.]  One  of  the  subjects  for 


378  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

congratulation  was  that  the  Fourth  of  July  was 
getting,  more  and  more,  not  only  an  international, 
but  a  strictly  Anglo-American  festival — [cheers]— 
as  was  evidenced  by  the  presence  of  all  these  dis 
tinguished  Englishmen — men  high  in  the  office  of 
the  Government,  great  soldiers  fresh  from  the 
battlefield— [cheers] — learned  divines,  editors,  mer 
chants,  all  ready  to  join  them  in  the  celebration 
of  that  day.  [Cheers.]  It  was,  indeed,  now  recog 
nized  by  all  the  world  that  the  principles  which  were 
declared  125  years  ago  by  their  heroic  fathers  were 
now  accepted  as  the  cardinal  principles  of  policy 
and  of  government  and  of  justice — [cheers] — and 
the  great  men  stood  by  them  in  the  British  Parlia 
ment  on  that  great  day — such  men  as  Chatham, 
Burke  and  Fox — laid  down  principles  which  had 
furnished  the  basis  of  the  colonial  administration 
of  Great  Britain  from  that  time  to  this. 

When  the  time  came  for  Mr.  Choate  to  return 
home,  and  resume  his  place  as  a  private  citizen,  he 
did  so  without  regret.  He  had  fulfilled  his  mission 
admirably;  he  occupied  a  high  place  on  the  roll  of 
American  diplomats;  he  had  won  the  respect  and 
regard  of  the  British  nation;  on  him  had  been  be 
stowed  the  highest  honors  within  the  gift  of  Eng 
lishmen,  culminating  in  the  two  great  banquets  in 
his  honor,  the  one  at  Lincoln's  Inn  by  the  Bench 
and  Bar  of  England,  the  other  at  the  Mansion  House 
by  the  Lord  Mayor,  at  which  were  gathered  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  his  profession,  as  well  as  in 


THE  AMBASSADOE  379 

public,  scientific,  literary  and  commercial  life.  His 
responses  to  the  toasts  proposed  to  the  distin 
guished  guest  will  be  found  in  his  book  Lincoln  and 
Other  Addresses.  There  was  nothing  further  for 
him  to  expect  in  the  way  of  personal  honor,  or  to 
render  in  the  paths  of  public  service.  He  was  prob 
ably  glad  to  be  released.  It  is  doubtless  true,  as  he 
said,  that  he  was  homesick,  and  yearned  to  be 
among  his  friends  in  his  native  land.  He  returned 
not  to  a  life  of  idleness,  for  besides  conspicuous 
service  in  his  profession,  he  undertook  duties  of 
large  importance  in  civic  and  philanthropic  affairs, 
and  gave  them  his  valuable  support  and  service. 
The  distinction  which  he  had  attained,  and  the  place 
he  filled  in  New  York  life,  earned  for  him  frequent 
reference  in  the  public  press  as  "New  York's  First 
Citizen." 

On  a  leave  of  absence  which  was  granted  him  he 
was  accorded  a  dinner  by  the  Lotos  Club,  when  he 
had  an  enthusiastic  American  welcome  from  old 
friends  and  admirers,  and  not  only  indulged  in 
some  of  his  rollicking  fun,  but  gave  expression 
to  his  sentiments  as  an  American  on  his  return 
to  his  New  York  home.  What  he  said  on  this 
occasion  may  be  accepted  as  a  true  indication  of 
his  feelings  on  his  retirement  from  the  Ambassa 
dorship. 

As  Mr.  Choate  rose  to  reply  the  diners  stood  up 
and  cheered  him.  Mr.  Choate  surveyed  their  en 
thusiasm  with  his  familiar  and  contagious  smile. 
When  he  had  his  opportunity  he  said: 


380  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"  Since  I  left  these  shores  I  have  seen  many  dis 
tinguished  companies,  but  I  never  met  one  like 
this." 

Mr.  Choate  paused  and  looked  around  with  a 
slow  smile.  A  shout  of  laughter  saluted  him.  He 
went  on: 

"Such  modesty " 

This  was  drawled  with  great  solemnity,  and  Mr. 
Choate  seemed  surprised  at  the  howl  which  it 
elicited  from  his  hosts. 

"Such  self-shrinking,  as  embodied  in  the  person 
of  your  Yice-President " 

Mr.  Choate  was  compelled  to  wait  for  a  long  time 
before  he  could  get  another  chance  to  say  anything 
at  all.  He  seemed  grieved  and  about  to  protest, 
but  at  last  he  slipped  into  a  pause  and  said : 

"Such  hiding  of  your  united  lights  under  a 
bushel " 

Mr.  Choate  let  his  face  relax,  and  the  suppressed 
smile  came  out  all  over  it  as  he  concluded,  raising 
his  voice  above  the  tumult  of  laughter : 

"You  may  search  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  over  without  finding  a  rival  of  the  Lotos 
Club.  [Laughter.]  I  appreciate  the  honor  you  are 
doing  me — and  yourselves.  [Great  laughter.]  I 
appreciate  this  overture  of  hospitality  [laughter], 
and  if  you  will  come  to  London,  individually  or 
collectively,  I  promise  to  apply  to  your  entertain 
ment  all  that  remains  of  my  salary  after  I  pay 
my  house  rent.  [Laughter.]  If  your  whole  mem 
bership  comes  together  there  may  not  be  much  to  go 


THE  AMBASSADOR  381 

around,  and  if  you  come  a  second  time  it  may  be 
rather  a  Barmecide  feast,  but  my  heart  will  go  with 
it.  [Laughter.] 

"Seriously,  I  do  feel  this  to  be  the  greatest  com 
pliment  I  have  yet  received,  for  it  is  evidence  to 
me  that  the  three  years  of  my  absence  have  not 
cooled  the  attachment  which  I  spent  forty  years  in 
acquiring  among  you.  [Applause.]  Now  I  am  not 
here  to  discuss  any  public  question.  Eeticence  is 
impressed  upon  me  as  a  law  of  our  being — for 
three  years  I  have  been  afflicted  with  political  lock 
jaw  [laughter] ;  when  I  shall  have  recovered  from 
that  affliction  I  will  return  to  the  subjects  I  love 
to  discuss. 

' '  To-night  my  discourse  shall  be  of  a  more  purely 
personal  nature.  When  I  landed  I  found  myself 
surrounded  by  a  company  of  friends  whom  I  did 
not  know,  but  so  persistent  that  I  doubt  whether 
my  friend,  Mr.  Reed,  could  have  shaken  them  off. 
They  all  asked:  'Why  have  you  come  home?'  Con 
fidentially,  I  will  give  you  the  answer  which  I  have 
reserved  for  this  occasion.  I  was  a  little — or  rather 
not  a  little,  homesick.  [Applause.]  I  wanted  to 
breathe  once  more  a  little  American  air — none  of 
your  second-hand  breathed-over  stuff,  but  the  real 
American  article — fresh  from  the  Rocky  Mountains 
to  the  Atlantic  every  day.  I  wanted  to  revel  in  a 
little  American  sunshine.  There  is  more  real 
honest  sunshine  in  a  real  October  day  in  Stock- 
bridge  or  in  New  York  than  there  is  in  a  whole 
winter  of  London.  [Applause  and  laughter.] 


382  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

"Perhaps  you  have  read  of  that  which  I  have 
escaped.  A  great  fog  has  clothed  the  British  Isles 
in  a  pall  of  sorrow  ever  since  I  left.  [Applause.] 
I  wanted  once  more  to  touch  my  foot  to  real  Ameri 
can  soil — the  real  thing,  not  the  imitation  thing 
which  the  Americans  who  come  to  London  seek  in 
my  hired  house  there,  when  they  seek  the  refuge  of 
the  United  States  Embassy.  I  believe  it  was 
Brutus  at  Delphi  who  solved  the  meaning  of  the 
oracle  who  had  said  that  he  should  rule  who  first 
kissed  his  mother.  He  pretended  to  be  stupid 
and  stumble  and  kissed  the  earth.  I  would  like 
to  try  that  osculatory  experiment,  but  not  on 
New  York  City  pavements  [laughter],  especially 
since  they  have  discharged  those  700  sweepers. 
[Laughter.] 

"But  if  I  could  have  the  chance,  in  my  native 
State  of  Massachusetts,  to  salute  the  salt-washed, 
rockbound  coast  of  Essex  or  the  granite  hills  of 
Berkshire,  I  believe  that  I  might  literally  drink  in 
fresh  strength.  [Applause.] 

"Now  as  to  what  I  have  done  abroad.  I  have 
enjoyed  myself  a  great  deal.  Some  of  you  may 
have  experienced  the  generosity  and  freedom  of 
English  hospitality.  [Applause.]  You  know  what 
it  is.  But  I  am  not  sure  you  know  what  a  stead 
fast  purpose  there  is  in  our  brethren  on  the  other 
side  to  maintain  that  friendship  which  so  happily 
exists.  [Applause.]  I  may  not  discuss  any  of 
the  relations  between  the  two  countries  but  I  be 
lieve  that  I  know  that  all  future  differences  between 


Underwood  &  Underwood 

Ox  His  EIGHTY-FOURTH  BIRTHDAY 


THE  AMBASSADOR  383 

them  may  be  amicably   and  honorably  adjusted. 
"[Applause.] 

"You  have  the  right  to  demand  to  hear  how 
my  absence  abroad  has  affected  my  impressions  of 
the  great  city  of  my  adoption.  I  do  not  believe 
that  any  intelligent  American  can  remain  abroad 
without  gathering,  month  by  month  and  year  by 
year,  increasing  love  and  affection  for  the  land  of 
his  birth  and  increasing  admiration  for  its  govern 
ment  and  institutions.  [Applause.]  Let  me  say 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart — I  suppose  that 
distance  has  enabled  me  to  get  a  better  and  dif 
ferent  perspective,  perhaps,  than  if  I  had  remained 
at  home — to  me  it  is  clear,  beyond  all  contradiction, 
that  the  cardinal  principle  which  underlies  our 
Government,  its  laws  and  policies,  the  absolute  civil 
and  political  equality  of  all  its  citizens  with  the 
right  of  universal  suffrage,  is  the  secret  of  Ameri 
can  success.  [Applause.]  It  is  again  aided  by  our 
unequal  gift  of  general  education  to  our  young,  ever 
renewing  and  strengthening  our  power  to  use  the 
right  of  the  suffrage  wisely  and  well.  [Applause.] 
It  has  put  America  on  the  magnificent  plane  on 
which  it  stands  to-day,  and  I  say  again  it  passes 
my  comprehension  that  any  intelligent,  observant 
citizen  can  go  abroad  and  not  return  a  warmer 
admirer,  and  a  more  devoted  champion,  of  the 
nation  of  his  birth."  [Applause.] 

Then    waiting   until    the    applause    ceased   Mr. 
Choate  went  on :    "What  shall  I  say  of  New  York?" 

Mr.  Carnegie  jumped  out  of  his  chair  and  threw 


384  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

out  both  hands  appealingly  in  front  of  Mr.  Choate 
and  shouted : 

"Look  out!  Look  out!  Mr.  Speaker!  Be  care 
ful  I" 

Mr.  Choate  smiled  appreciatively  and  continued: 

"When  I  get  such  a  hint  as  that  from  such  a  man 
as  Mr.  Carnegie  to  be  careful,  I  am  determined 
to  go  ahead  and  say  exactly  what  I  think.  [Laugh 
ter.]  New  York  is  to-day  just  beginning  its  prog 
ress.  The  last  three  years  have  developed  more 
signs  of  growth  than  any  decade  in  my  memory. 
[Applause.]  When  I  first  came  to  it,  it  was  a 
little  city  of  500,000  people;  Twenty-third  Street 
was  out  of  town.  The  horse  railroad  realized  the 
ideals  of  rapid  transit.  Now  in  fifty  years,  includ 
ing  the  four  years  since  the  consolidation  of  the 
greater  city,  it  has  been  making  a  series  of  strides, 
each  one  greater  than  the  one  before. 

"When  one  comes  up  the  bay  there  is  presented 
a  serried  battlement  of  skyscrapers  which  give  the 
city  the  appearance  of  a  fortified  citadel.  When  we 
landed  we  found  that  every  man,  woman  and 
child  seemed  to  be  moving  by  steam  or  electricity 
self-supplied — each  one  an  individual  automobile. 
[Laughter.]  As  we  went  on  we  found  the  whole 
city  undermined,  excavated,  earthquaked,  as  though 
titanic  engineers  were  upheaving  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  If  I  rightly  understand,  the  marvelous  com 
bination  of  mining  and  engineering  which  is  now 
going  on,  is  to  mark  the  new  birth  of  the  city." 
[Applause.] 


THE  AMBASSADOR  385 

Mr.  Choate  then  reviewed  the  material,  intel 
lectual  and  political  upheaval  of  the  city  which 
marked  the  present  day.  He  referred  to  the  new 
libraries  and  colleges  and  public  institutions.  Of 
the  recent  election  he  said : 

"As  an  outsider  I  have  heard  of  a  great  political 
upheaval.  [Applause.]  As  a  diplomat  I  can  say 
nothing  and  I  will  say  nothing.  I  will  not  say  a 
word — but  let  me  say  just  one  word.  [Laughter.] 
The  one  encouraging  sign  to  men  of  all  ways  of 
thinking  is  when  the  entire  manhood  of  the  city 
turns  out  and  joins  hands;  no  matter  how  each 
individual  votes,  the  party  which  has  the  majority 
of  the  whole  vote  may  be  trusted  with  the  care  of 
the  city.  [Applause.]  If  that  is  politics,  and 
treason  to  the  principles  to  which  I  am  bound — 
make  the  most  of  it.  [Laughter.] 

"I  can  only  return  to  the  glory,  might,  dignity 
and  brains  of  the  Lotos  Club  as  incarnated  in  the 
person  of  your  Vice-President.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  When  you  return  my  visit,  as  I  hope 
you  will,  you  will  find  the  latchstring  out.  It  may 
be  ragged,  but  it  will  always  be  out." 

/ 

Here,  then,  as  amid  applause,  loud  and  long,  Mr. 
Choate  resumes  his  seat,  let  us  take  leave  of  him, 
the  unique  personality,  the  unsurpassed  wit,  the 
eloquent  and  instructive  orator,  the  distinguished 
lawyer,  the  great  citizen,  the  thoroughbred  Ameri 
can,  the  man  of  genius. 


INDEX 


ABERDEEN,  EAEL  OF,  66. 

ACTORS'  FUND  ADDRESS,  278. 

ADDRESSES;  at  Salem,  28;  before 
New  England  Society,  34,  36, 
38,  39,  41,  44;  Harvard  Club, 
52;  St.  Andrew's  Society,  66; 
St.  Patrick's  Day  Speech,  68; 
Richard  Croker  speech,  76; 
Union  League,  100;  Associated 
Press,  106;  welcome  to  French 
Commission,  111;  welcome  to 
British  Commission,  113;  at 
dinner  to  Commission,  116;  at 
Lincoln's  Inn,  130;  Lord  May 
or's  banquet,  137,  251,  291; 
Chas.  F.  Southmayd  address, 
158;  Chambers  of  Commerce, 
248,  258;  Sutherland  Institute, 
265,  272;  Actors'  Fund,  279; 
Independence  Day,  July  5,  1900, 
283;  Ancient  Cutlers'  Feast, 
285;  Freedom  of  Edinburgh, 
298;  Dinner  to  Sir  John  Ten- 
niel,  304;  the  Royal  Society,  310; 
Burnley  Mechanics  Institute, 
316;  University  College  School, 
322;  Leys  School,  324;  Crewe 
Mechanics  Institution,  329 ; 
Cheyne  Hospital,  333;  Authors' 
Club,  339;  Coventry  bazaar, 
344;  Poultry  Show,  352;  Al- 
brighton  Hunt,  354;  Fly  Fish 
ers'  Club,  359;  Social  and  Po 
litical  Education  League,  368; 
Presiding  officer,  369;  Thanks 
giving  Day,  370-372;  Independ 
ence  Day,  July  5,  1901,  376; 
Lotos  Club  dinner,  379. 

AGASSIZ,  Louis,  21. 

ALASKA  BOUNDARY,  253. 

ALBRIGHTON  HUNT  ADDRESS,  354. 

ALGER,  HORATIO,  JR.,  22. 

ALPHA  DELTA  PHI,  21. 

AMBASSADOR;  appointment,  239; 
qualifications,  239 ;  criticized 
by  Irishmen,  239;  reception  at 

387 


Bar  Association,  241 ;  demands 
upon  him  for  addresses,  242; 
Bench  and  Bar  banquet,  April 
15,  1905,  244;  efficient  service, 
246;  cultivation  of  friendly  in 
ternational  relations,  246;  ap 
peal  of  humor  to  British  audi 
ences,  246;  Persona  grata  with 
Her  Majesty,  247;  social  and 
diplomatic  success,  250;  Hay- 
Pauncefote  Treaty,  252;  Alaska 
Boundary,  253;  "Open  Door 
in  China,"  255;  Samoa,  255; 
See  Addresses. 

AMERICAN  BAR  ASSOCIATION,  AD 
DRESS  BEFORE,  134. 

ANCIENT  CUTLERS'  FEAST,  285. 

ANECDOTES;  Claflin  case,  xiii; 
St.  Patrick's  Day  speech,  xv; 
Lord  Haldane's  book,  xv; 
"Honorificabilitudinitatibus,"  4 ; 
witchcraft,  5;  Mrs.  Choate  and 
Mrs.  Sparks,  10;  "send  for 
Mr.  Cutts,"  14;  led  to  school, 
17;  Dr.  Fowler,  phrenologist, 
23,  a  new  suit,  24;  Salem 
pronunciation,  29 ;  Governor 
Bullock,  35;  Mr.  Depew,  44; 
toast  to  woman,  47;  Earl  of 
Aberdeen,  66;  "hated  Reid 
worse  than  he  did  me,"  81; 
"the  line  will  form  on  my 
right,"  86;  one  statesman  suf 
ficient,  89;  Mrs.  Choate's  sec 
ond  husband,  89;  "you  can, 
Choate  did,"  89;  "where  are 
you  going  to  open?"  90;  on  ele 
vated  road,  90;  "hands  in  his 
own  pockets,"  91;  Mr.  Depew, 
91;  "unnecessary  to  say  it 
again,"  141;  "have  just  forty 
minutes,"  141;  "not  the  legal 
power  to  order  me,"  142;  be 
fore  Recorder  Smyth,  142; 
"learned  a  great  deal  about 
this  case,"  145;  Bishop  Brooks, 


388 


INDEX 


145;  "did  you  ever  see  a  vam 
pire?"  147;  "I  am  older  than 
you  think,"  149;  "what  are 
you  laughing  at?"  149;  "did 
she  look  just  as  I  am  look 
ing?"  150;  the  clergyman's  re 
ward,  151;  "give  me  a  Jew 
every  time,"  152;  the  Presby 
terian  Church  and  Dr.  Briggs, 
152;  retort  to  Senator  Conkling, 
190;  Mrs.  Green  and  Mr.  Sage, 
220;  "Well,  God  save  the 
Queen,"  221;  historical  brief, 
227;  attack  of  gout,  241;  "call 
me  a  cab,"  249;  "meeting  Eng 
lishmen  halfway,"  249;  car 
ries  all  before  him,  249;  drop- 
letter  box,  250. 

ASSOCIATED  PRESS  ADDRESS,  106. 

AUTHORS'  CLUB  ADDRESS,  339 


BALFOUR,  RIGHT  HON.  ARTHUR 
J.,  113,  114,  121. 

BANGS,  FRANCIS  N.,  189,  197. 

BARNES,  GENERAL  W.  H.  L.,  26. 

BECK,  DR.,  21. 

BELLOWS,  DR.  HENRY  W.,  66. 

BERGSON,  DR.  HENRI,  103,  121. 

BIGELOW,  HON.  JOHN,  97. 

BRITISH  COMMISSION,  110,  113. 

BROWN,  ADDISON,  21,  22. 

BURNLEY,  MECHANICS  INSTI 
TUTE,  316. 

BURNS,  ANTHONY,  22,  49. 

BUTLER,  PRESIDENT,  121. 


CARNEGIE  HALL  MEETING,  87. 

CARTER,  JAMES  C.,  18,  19,  24, 
62,  64,  222. 

CASES,  153,  155,  174,  179,  188, 
191,  195,  197,  198,  201,  221, 
232. 

CENTRAL  SCHOOL,  114. 

CENTURY  CLUB,  97. 

CHAMBERS  OP  COMMERCE  AD 
DRESS,  258. 

CHANDLER,  WILLIAM  E.,  22. 

CHANNING,  EDWARD  T.,  21. 

CHEEVER,  DAVID  W.,  22. 

CHEYNE  HOSPITAL,  333. 

CHILDS,  FRANCIS  J.,  21. 

CHOATE  FAMILY,  11. 

CHOATE,  FRANCIS,  6. 


CHOATE,  DR.  GEORGE,  7,  8,  9, 
10;  his  sons,  7;  their  educa 
tion,  8;  social  enjoyments,  9; 
their  success,  10. 

CHOATE,  GEORGE  C.  S.,  7. 

CHOATE,  JOHN,  5. 

CHOATE,  JOSEPH  H.;  letter  from, 
xiii;  ancestors,  6;  birth,  12; 
early  education,  17;  at  Har 
vard,  20;  instructors,  21; 
classmates,  21;  at  Law  School, 
22;  instructors,  22;  classmates, 
22;  removal  to  New  York,  24; 
letter  of  Rufus  Choate,  24; 
with  Mr.  Evarts,  25;  typical 
New  Englander,  27;  Salem  ad 
dress,  27;  New  England  traits, 
29;  outward  qualities,  30;  Pu 
ritan  qualities,  32;  love  for 
New  England,  55;  acquaint 
ance  with,  59 ;  appearance  and 
demeanor,  59;  personal  quali 
ties,  60;  espousal  of  worthy 
causes,  62;  abreast  of  the 
times,  63;  popularity,  63;  ora 
tory,  64,  65,  66;  popularity  as 
a  speaker,  72;  Sanitary  Fair 
address,  73;  political  career, 
75;  local  campaigns,  78;  un 
popularity  with  bosses,  78;  the 
Hill  plot,  83;  election  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  84; 
president  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  85;  proposed  for 
Governor,  86;  proposed  for 
Senator,  87;  running  for  Sena 
tor,  86;  in  social  life,  89;  his 
tact,  92;  breadth  of  interests, 
93;  return  to  New  York,  93; 
First  Citizen,  94;  philanthro 
pies,  95;  scope  of  activities,  96; 
at  the  Century  Club,  97;  the 
Hague  Conference,  98;  attitude 
toward  the  war,  100;  Union 
League  address,  100;  Associ 
ated  Press  address,  106;  chair 
man  of  Citizens  Committee, 
110;  welcome  to  French  Com 
mission,  111;  welcome  to  Brit 
ish  Commission,  113;  dinner 
to  Commission,  116;  immortal 
ity  of  the  soul,  121;  his  death, 
121;  fortunate  life  and  death, 
122;  farewell  to  Mr.  Balfour, 


INDEX 


389 


127;  a  great  Court  lawyer, 
127;  Lincoln's  Inn  address, 
130;  what  constitutes  success, 
130;  American  Bar  Associa 
tion,  134;  position  at  the  Bar, 
135;  appearance  and  manner 
in  Court,  135,  139;  address  at 
Lord  Mayor's  banquet,  137; 
with  Mr.  Evarts,  138;  leader 
ship  of  the  Bar,  140;  independ 
ence,  141 ;  no  reliance  on 
technicalities,  143 ;  enjoyment 
of  practice,  145;  versatility, 
146;  humor  in  his  cases,  146; 
charm  of  eloquence,  148;  rela 
tions  with  the  Bar,  151;  asso 
ciation  with  Mr.  Evarts,  172; 
instance  of  by-play,  175;  dur 
ing  a  trial,  186;  retort  to 
Senator  Conkling,  190;  fee  in 
Income  Tax  cases,  231;  return 
to  the  Bar,  233;  career  in  the 
retrospect,  233 ;  attainments 
and  position,  236;  appointed 
Ambassador,  239;  return  to 
America,  378. 

CHOATE,  RUFUS,  5,  24,  25,  64. 

CHOATE,  THOMAS,  6;  at  Cam 
bridge  with  Milton,  11. 

CHOATE,  WILLIAM  G.,  7,  17,  18, 
22. 

COLLINS,  DECIA,  21. 

CONKLING,  SENATOB,  189,  190, 
191. 

COOLIDGE,    HOBACE    H.,    22. 
COURT,     APPEARANCE     AND     MAN 
NER   IN,    135. 

COVENTRY  BAZAAR,  344. 

CREWE  MECHANICS  INSTITUTION, 

-329. 

CROKER,  RICHARD,  76. 

DAMES'  SCHOOL,  13,  14. 

ELIOT,  PRESIDENT,  92. 
ENGLISH  BAR,  RELATIONS  WITH, 

250. 

EUSTIS,  JAMES  B.,  22. 
EVARTS,    WILLIAM    M.,    xii,    14, 

25,   129,   146,   157,   172. 
EVARTS,      SOUTHMAYD     AND 

CHOATE,  156. 

FELTON,  CORNELIUS  C.,  21. 
FEUARDENT  vs.  CESNQLA,  197. 


FLY  FISHERS'  CLUB,  359. 
FOWLER,  DR.,  23. 
FRENCH  COMMISSION,  110. 
FUNK  vs.  GODKIN,  191. 

GOFP,  JOHN  W.,  142. 
GOLDEN  WEDDING,  99. 
GRAY,  ASA,  21. 
GURNEY,  E.  F.  W.,  22. 

HAGUE  CONFERENCE,  DELEGATE 
TO,  98. 

HABVARD  CLUB,  ADDRESS  AT,  52. 

HARVARD  COLLEGE,  18,  19,  21, 
51. 

HABVABD,  JOHN,  MEMOBIAL  WIN 
DOW,  54;  address  on,  55. 

HARVARD  LAW  SCHOOL,  22. 

HASTY  PUDDING  CLUB,  20. 

HAY-PAUNCEFOTE  TREATY,  252. 

HILL,  SENATOR,  82. 

HOAR,  SENATOR,  92. 

HOLMES,  DR.  OLIVER  WENDELL, 
48. 

HUNT  vs.  STEVENS,  186. 

INCOME    TAX    CASES,    139,    164, 

221,  230,  231. 
INDEPENDENCE    DAY    ADDRESSES 

283,  376. 
INSTITUTE  OF  1770,  21. 

JOFFRE,  MARSHAL,  111. 
JOHNSON,  JUDGE  ALEXANDEB  S., 
161. 

LAIDLAW  vs.  SAGE,  201. 
LAWYERS,  CHANGES  IN  PRACTICE, 

127. 

LEYS  SCHOOL,  324. 
LINCOLN'S  INN  ADDRESS,  130. 
LONGFELLOW,  HENRY  W.,  21. 
LORD  MAYOR'S  BANQUET,  137, 

291. 

LOBING,  PBOFESSOB,  22. 
LOTOS  CLUB  DINNEB,  379. 

MANSION  HOUSE  DINNEB,  251. 
MABTINEZ  vs.  DEL  VALLE,  179. 
MIDDLE    TEMPLE,    BENCHES    OF. 
251. 

NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY,  34,  36, 
38,  39,  41,  44,  47, 


390 


INDEX 


OLNEY,  RICHARD,  222. 
"OPEN  DOOB  IN  CHINA,"  255. 
OBATOBY,  64,  66,  76,  148. 

PABSONS,  THEOPHILUS,  22. 
PABKEB,  JOEL,  22. 
PATTEBSON,  JUDGE,  141. 
PHI  BETA  KAPPA,  21. 
PIEBPONT,  JOHN,  48. 
PLATT,  THOMAS  C.,  81,  87. 

POULTBY    SHOW    ADDBESS,    352. 

REED,  THOMAS  B.,  89. 
ROYAL  SOCIETY  ADDBESS,  310. 

ST.  ANDBEWS   SOCIETY,   SPEECH, 

66. 
ST.  PATRICK'S  DAY  SPEECH,  68, 

81. 
SAGE,  RUSSELL,  CBOSS-EXAMINA- 

TION  OF,  203;  anecdote  of,  220. 
SALEM  ADDBESS,  16. 
SALTONSTALL,  LEVEBETT,  23. 
SAMOA,  255. 


SOCIAL     AND     POLITICAL     EDUCA 
TION    LEAGUE,    358. 

SOPHOCLES,  EVANGELINUS  APOS- 

TOLICUS,    21. 
SOUTHMAYD,     CHARLES     F.,     146, 

158. 
STEWABT  vs.  HUNTINGTON,  188. 

SUTHEBLAND        INSTITUTE       BAN 
QUET,   272. 

TENNIEL,  SIB  JOHN,  DINNER  TO, 

304. 

TEBBY,  DAVID  S.,  198. 
THANKSGIVING  DAY,  370,  372. 
THAYEB,  JAMES  B.,  22. 
TWELFTH  NIGHT  REVEL,  97. 

UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB,  72,  100. 
UNIVEBSITY     COLLEGE     SCHOOL, 
PBIZE  DAY  AT,  322. 

WABE,  DABWIN  R.,  21. 
WABE,  JAMES  B.,  22. 
WOLCOTT,  SENATOB,  89. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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APR  1U  1941 M 


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U70BftAM4    * 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


51342 


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3829.76 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


